


Something Whole

by isabelbarret



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Bonding, Falling In Love, Historical, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Omega Stiles Stilinski, Pack Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-15 21:00:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 78,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15421509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isabelbarret/pseuds/isabelbarret
Summary: Stiles is stolen away from his home and forced to work for the Hale army. He ends up at a manor where he lives at the edge of the war between the Hales and the Argents. Stiles gets wrapped up in rumors about secret princes, magic and possibly a spy. A handsome alpha who he finds himself hopelessly attracted to is the last thing he wants.





	1. Chapter 1

The women who had been walking behind Stiles since that morning collapses sometimes towards the middle of the afternoon. It was hard to tell what age she is, though most of her hair is a dark grey with a few remaining peices of black and she had heavy lines of age across her face. 

Three others stopped next to him, squatting down to inspect the women. One of them is Isaac, a fellow omega who Stiles knows vaguely and who shakes the women in an attempt to wake her up. One of the other men, a burly old beta with flaming red hair offers a few drops of water from a canteen he had hidden in his pants which resulted in her eyelids fluttering but otherwise she showed no signs of movement. 

The two beta men pick her up by her armpits and each drape an arm over their shoulders and they try to keep a careful grip on her. Stiles walks beside them, Isaac beside him though they remaine silent as they continued the long walk. 

The women stumbles along for a while before eventually going limp, her feet dragging in the dirt in two long parallel lines. Stiles can tell the beta men are growing tired, and Stiles doubts that he and Isaac, even together, would be able to drag her for very long at all. She’s completely limp, which means they would be carrying her full weight. 

The suns is low in the sky when they stop to inspect the women. Her face is ashen, her lips a slight bluish purple and when they hold their hand over her mouth they don’t feel any breath. It's unclear for how long they’ve been carrying her dead body for, only the fact that she is very much dead. 

There's only two options, either they continue to carry her until they arrive at whatever place they make camp for that night which still could be hours away and bury her there or they abandon her body on the side of the road and simply hope someone stumbles upon it and burriers her. 

They can’t stop and bury her now, already they are getting dirty looks for the short stops they’ve made. The beta man drags her over towards the side of the road, laying her down in a pile of weeds and daisies. Isaac is the one to fold her arms over her chest and carefully close her eyes. 

If there was time Stiles would do something more to set her at rest. He had attended funerals before back home, watching as the casket was slowly laid into the ground. His mother had been burned, body turned into ashes which were put in a box which they buried deep in the ground. 

Already an alpha whose sitting high up on a horse is approaching, a displeased look on their face. Stiles has already seen them whip and beat someone in the group when they were unhappy and Stiles knows he does not want that to happen to him because he’s seen the way they bled and limped for days. 

They work their way back into the group, though Stiles and Isaac still stick close to each other. He’s been alone since they stole him away, not even bothering to talk to anyone else, and it is nice to have a campion even if they stay silent. 

For a few more hours they continue to walk, the blisters on his feet have begun to harden and have left him more sore than during the first few days. It has been a week now of walking from dawn till dusk to a destination that Stiles doesn’t even know. 

The tents seem to rise out of nowhere and they suddenly find themselves in a village made of tents. They are stopped before entering the village, though there is people milling around who stare at them and talk quietly amongst themselves. 

Stiles doesn’t know anything about the alpha’s on horses except for the fact that they are southerners. It’s clear in the careful lift of their voices, were it rises up and down as they shout commands. The words rize up in the end that gives them off as foreigners and clear their first language is southern speak. 

Once a wandering man, who was selling little trinkets out of a pack on his back had come to Beacon village. He had spoke southern speak, and his voice had sounded like wind chimes to Stiles ears. All the kids in the villedge, the ones who were young enough to still be amazed but old enough be able to sit still and listen had gathered around him. They hadn’t been able to understand the story he was telling but the words were so enchanting that everyone had been captivated. 

His father had bought him a little doll from the man, with stick arms and cloth wrapped around the body. Stiles still had it even now, though it was worn out and covered in dirt. He imagines that at the moment it was lying abandoned back in his house. 

The alpha’s divide them by dynamic, making the omega’s stand far off to the side. Isaac and Stiles stand close together as the omega’s are led off to one of the larger tents. There is already some people inside but the alpha’s crowded them in anyways which means there is barely any room to sit, let alone stand. 

Looking around it was clear most of the omega’s were young and all of them unbonded. For a brief minute Stiles desperately wishes he was a few years older and could have already bonded or at least be one of those omega’s who married much to young. Instead Stiles had always prided himself in his independence and of course the fact that he never had someone who was interested in him meant he’d never been close to bonding. 

Stiles and Isaac find a place close to the wall of the tent. It’s warm and stuffy in the tent, so many unwashed bodies in one place doesn’t make for a pleasant environment. Luckily the flap has been left open, which means at least a little fresh air it getting in. Despite how many people are in the tent nobody speaks above a whisper. 

“Stiles,” someone hisses and Stiles turns to see Danny making his way over towards him. There's a few other people from Beacon here, though none of them are people Stiles knows very well. Danny and him were at least something close to friends back in Beacon.

Danny squeezes into a spot besides Stiles, their elbows bumping together. “I thought there was only a couple of us from Beacon here, nearly everyone from my group was strangers.” 

“They got most of the unmated omega’s,” Isaac says quietly. “Burned half the town down too.” 

“Smoked us out more like it. A bunch of us were down in the McCall cellar but the smoke got to strong and we had to come out. That's when they grabbed us,” Stiles says. Foods being passed around and an omega next to them passes them a stiff loaf of bread which everyone grabs a small piece off of. 

They had spent two days down in Melissa McCall’s cellar. The southerners had stayed on the edges of the village territory and during the night came in and set radnom houses aflame. It was only by chance that the southerners got Melissa's house, they could have made it a week at least otherwise. Maybe tried to figure out another plan, find a way to get out of Beacon without being caught. 

The first day the southerners attacked they had the element of surprise. They had grabbed beta’s and alpha’s as well as many omega’s as they could. It had been clear that they were targeting unmated omega’s. Danny had been one of the ones grabbed that day, the attack had sent the village into a frenzy. Nobody had been quite sure what to do. 

“We’ve been sitting here for a day already,” Danny says gnawing on his piece of bread. “They give us three meals and let us go outside and use the bathroom. It doesn’t seem like anyone knows what they want, they talk in southern speak around us and I haven’t found someone who understands it.” 

“Do you think their going to give us to the Argents?” Issac questions. 

Stiles shakes his head. “They would have just taken us when they come in recruiting. There's no reason why they would come back a several months later and steal us away, not when they could force us by law.” 

“They’ll be giving us off to those wolves,” the words come from a woman curled up next to them, she’s got a shawl wrapped around her shoulders and blonde curls framing her face. “Their just a bunch of lowly southern tradesmen.” 

“How to you know that? Do you know southern speak?” Stiles questions. She looks vaguely familiar, maybe from one of the farms outside of Beacon. 

She’s an omega too, just like all of them in the tent and probably about their age. She’s painfully skinny, not that any of them are in very good condition. The war has taken a lot from the village and they’ve been on rations for years now, everything going to the Argents and the war efforts. Everyone from Beacon wears the lack of food on their figure. 

“Not well, I can only a get a few words here and there,” she explains, coming to sit closer so their conversation can’t be overheard. “I’m Erica. You all are from Beacon?” 

They nod, each saying their own names. Stiles wonders how she learned southern speak, it's not exactly a common skill. He doesn't ask though, not sure how to phrase the question without making it sound like an accusation. Stiles also isn’t sure that the others in the tent wouldn’t hurt Erica in some way if the suspected her of having any ties to the southerns. 

“Do you think they’ll sell us to a brothel?” Isaac asks quietly. It's a thought that has been going through Stiles head no matter how many time he tries to push it out. 

“Not if we are being given to wolves, their too possessive to ever go to a brothel,” Stiles remembers Scott after he got turned, getting frustrated by any other scent on Stiles who he only ever viewed as a bother. “They don’t like the scent of other wolves on their omega’s.” 

There hadn’t been many wolves in their villedge, least of all born ones. Scott had been one of the few wolves who had chosen to stay in Beacon, even after the Argents had claimed Beacon within their border. The few wolves within the villedge has left and moved towards Hale territory in hopes of avoiding persecution. 

Scott had refused to leave his mom, and couldn’t bring himself to ask her to come with him. She was head healer in their village, valued and respected among everyone. It was not the kind of job that could be easily stumbles upon, it had taken her years of hard work to get there. Scott had refused to ask her simply to pick up and leave. 

Briefly they had fantasized about running away together, possibly to the north where Stiles mother was from. They had imagined it would be like one of the great adventures they had desired as a kid, being free and wild to do what they please. It hadn’t taken long for both of them to come to the conclusion that they couldn’t leave Beacon. 

Now Scotts gone and Beacon is miles and miles behind him. The desire to ever leave rings in his head as a distant memory for the thing he desires most in the world is to go back in time to the way things once were. 

“So maybe we’ll just be sex slaves,” Erica says bluntly. “Not the kind that get passed around, but slaves nonetheless.” 

Isaac whose leaned his head against Stiles shoulder and whose eyes are looking increasingly heavy frowns at this. “Maybe they’ll just want us to work in someones house, as a maid or kitchen staff.” 

Its a pleasant thought and Stiles wishes he had the kind of mind that would allow him to indulge in that. “If they wanted that why take only the unmated? Anyone can do hard labour or kitchen work.” 

Isaac curls into himself further, tucking himself into Stiles. Omega’s find comfort in each others company and being in a room full of omega’s helps to relax him further despite the scent of fear and worry throughout the room. 

It's dark outside, and the only light comes from outside the tent. There's two lamps in the entrance to the tent but they barley cast more than a light yellow glow throughout the tent. It makes it easy for them to tuck up against each other and drift off to sleep. 

  
  


 

***

  
  


Someone's yelling in southern speak, words blending together in what almost sounds like a melody to Stiles ears. He reaches up and covers his ears from the sound, cringing away from the world. 

For a brief second he’s able to picture himself back in Beacon, waking up in his own bed with the thick quilt over his body. He’d get up and go to school, the biggest building in all of Beacon. He’d sit next to Scott, scribbling down words on his piece of parchment in his long looping handwriting. 

He can’t stay in those thoughts for long, not with the southerners yelling and the scent of so much fear around him. There's a tension that vibrates through the air, making Stiles body stiff. Isaac’s body seems the same where it’s pressed up against Stiles. 

There's a little light in the tent, the sun it just only beginning to rise. The southerners are grabbing omega’s and dragging them out of the tent and the rest cower away. The southerns ae yelling in southern speak, which isn’t helping at all. Erica cringes at their words though which probably means there not very kind. 

Danny’s the first one that they grab, picking him up underneath his arms and dragging him out. Danny squirms in their grip, letting a yelp in surprise as they drag him out of the tent. Stiles tries to lunge to grab Danny, not that it would do them any good, but Erica pulls him back. 

It doesn’t matter anyways, within a minute Stiles, Isaac and Erica have been dragged out of the tent too. They don’t take everyone, there's probably only about fifteen of them outside now. They are surrounded by half a dozen southerns, all with weapons strapped to their side like their expecting a fight. 

No one is explaining what's going on, the southerners are talking but only low and to each other. They turn to look at Erica in hopes she can understand them but she shakes her head at their looks. They huddle together in the brisk morning air, sitting in the damp grass as the southerns debate their fate. 

The southerners hand out bread and water, not enough to help the empty feeling in Stiles stomach but at least it’s something. Stiles chews on the bread mechanically as he watches the southerners speak, who keep looking back at the group of omega’s occasionally to make sure none of them are running off. 

The sun is high in the sky by the time a wagon pulls up, two horses pulling it. It's still cold out, a sharp wind in the air that is a clear sign that winter is fast approaching. Stiles wishes he could go back in time and have grabbed a better coat. 

The southerns load them up into the wagon, which is definitely not big enough for all of them to sit comfortably so they have to squeezes in next to each other. Two of the southerns take spots at the end of the wagon, feet hanging over the side. There is two more southern's at the front of the wagon. 

Stiles doesn’t think there's really any reason for so many southerners to accompany them wherever their going. They have guns with them, strapped to a holster on their belts and probably other weapons hidden on their bodies. The southerns keeping giving them all predatory stares, like the omega’s are rabid animals instead of cowering close to each other and stinking of fear. 

They bump along for hours, long enough that all of Stiles limbs are so sore he feels like he’ll never be able to move again. Isaac is curled up against his side, head leaning against his shoulder and dozing on and off. Stiles wishes he was able to fall asleep too. 

“We’re heading east,” Danny says quietly, he’s been staring intently out the window for a long time. “I think maybe even a little bit north as well.”  

“Further into Hale territory then,” Stiles murmurs. They’ve been traveling on the same dirt road for a while now looking out at the tall trees that surround them. It's not at all like Beacon which was surrounded by rolling farmlands. 

He’s not sure whether or not he should be happy about entering Hale territory. Stiles holds no allegiance to the Argents but both sides are responsible for this stupid war. Their both responsible for taking his father and Scott away from him and in some way he’s sure they’ll both end up being responsible for him being kidnapped as well. 

Unlike many humans Stiles doesn’t hate wolves. It had been something his mother had instilled in him from a young age. As a northerner she hadn’t understood the issues between wolves and humans, in the north is was said that most are not really human though they are not wolves either. Often they were something in between, some said witches, mages and sorcerers. 

Beacon for most of its existence laid somewhere between Argent and Hale territory. They had both wolves and humans, coexisting in the same place. When the Argents suddenly decided that Beacon was in their territory they had thrown off the careful balance that existed between humans and wolves there. 

Stiles stomach growls, the bread and water he had earlier that morning feels like a lifetime ago. The southerners had eaten a meal of dried meat and fruit hours ago and pointedly not shared any with the omega’s. Instead they had laughed at their longing gazes. 

“Oh wow,” Danny says, turning nearly completely around from where he’s been looking over the side of the wagon. “Look at that! I’ve never seen anything like it before.” 

Stiles turns to see that thier approaching the largest building he’s ever seen. Its a castle for sure, just like something out of a fairy tale. Its light white grey stone, with towers and roofs which come to a point. Its magnificent and if Stiles had a piece of parchment with him his only desire would be to draw it. 

It's nothing like the houses in Beacon, which are usually not even more then two floors, with dark wood beams and stone walls plastered white. It's the only type of homes he was used to considering he’s never been even a few miles away from Beacon before. 

The castle is up on a hill, they’ve been slowly winding up the base of it for quite some time now. Their heading upwards more steadily now, making all the omega’s slide against each other at the incline. It had already been cramped in the wagon before, but now it barely even feels like there's room to breath. 

Slitels is glad for the canvas cover over the wagon, raising high above them on thin wooden beams. He’s gotten most of his looks from his mother, and her northern complection isn’t meant for the sun. While it isn’t warm out, the sun been beating down on them all day and he’d be as red as a lobster without a cover. 

He spends most summers trying to hide under any piece of shade he could find or otherwise coming home at the end of the day bright pink. Stiles can still remember his mother muttering at him, wrapping a scarf around his head in the way they do in the north to keep the sun off them. He’d always lose it half way through the day. 

The closer they get to the castle the more daunting it become. It rises high above them, as though its looking down on them and watching. Half the omega’s seem to be unable to take their eyes off of it, while the rest seem to have decided to refuse to look and instead staring down at their hands. 

“It looks like something out of a fairy tale,” Erica murmurs staring up at the castle in awe. The wagon comes to a shuddering halt, the southerners disembark but show no signs that the omega’s should do the same. 

Stiles nods in agreement. “I bet I could get lost just wandering around in there.” 

He can’t see the southern but they can all hear them, a mixture of words Stiles can understand and southern speak. Their talking to someone else whose only speaking loud enough that Stiles can catch every other word. The southerner’s seem to be in an agitated stated, clearly upset about something. 

“What are they-” Isaac begins. 

“Shhh,” Erica hisses cutting off Isaac's words with an annoyed look. “I’m trying to listen. Their mad about some deal, and something about a Hale. I can’t hear the rest of it though.” 

Stiles sits up and tries to move his muscles a little bit only to have a few joints crack. Danny moves too making their elbows and knees bump together. Someone towards the front of the wagon kept coughing and everyone seems to be migrating away from them. 

“Do you think there's going to be a Hale there?” Danny asks. 

There basically in the middle of nowhere, Stiles hasn’t seen another person who wasn’t an omega or southerner for a long time. “What would a Hale be doing all the way out here? We’re not near anything.” 

“We are close to the border,” Danny says with a shrug. “It's probably one of the closest Hale claimed outposts near Argent territory. I’m sure it has strategic purposes.” 

Stiles doesn't know that much about the Hales, and much of what he’s heard is probably rumours. He knows that the former Queen Talia Hale was assassinated along with her husband, and the Argents were blamed for it which is what started the war. He’s heard it was wolfsbane poisoning that did it, something that is well known for being a weapon of the Argent family.

There's only five Hales left living, the oldest of the children is Laura who had taken the throne after her mother's death. The youngest Hale child had been sent south, to his father's homeland and away from the war. He doesn’t know much about the other Hales except for its said that Princess Cora is a vicious warrior and Lord Peter had an even more vicious mind. 

He knows next to nothing about the middle Hale child, Prince Theoderek. Stiles had heard a rumour that he had been engaged to Princess Katherine Argent. A feeble attempt at an alliance that had been tried before eventually falling into war. 

An alpha approaches the entrance of the wagon, coming to look upon the omega’s within it. They aren't a southern, instead they wear a shiny breastplate with the symbol of a howling wolf within a circle in the upper right corner. The Hale soldier has blonde hair cut short around her chin and a defiant look as though she expected to be encountering enemy soldiers. 

She knocks her feet against the side of the wagon twice, gathering everyone's attention and even making a few jump. She seems almost pleased with the reaction she’s gotten out of them. She calls out to them. “Everyone get out of the wagon!” 

There's no easy way to dismount out of the wagon without help which the alpha shows no intent of providing. The more elegant omega’s dismount from the wagon gently, landing into the dirt path. The rest of them stumble as they go, Stiles whose especially clumsy nearly goes falling out on his hands and knees as he gets out of the wagon. 

His limbs feel frozen and he wobbles around like a newborn deer. He braces himself against Isaacs side in an attempt to keep from completely crumbling down onto the ground. It's a miracle by the end that nobodies fallen and gotten themselves hurt. 

In the wagon he hadn’t noticed how pale Erica looks. She even looks a little blue in the lips, and she looks to be shaking slightly. Erica’s thinner then she should be, and she leans heavily between Stiles and Danny, making her most valiant attempt to stay on her feet. 

The alpha walks by them, carefully inspecting each one of them. Stiles doesn’t know what would happen if she doesn’t find one of them up to her standards, and Erica’s looking paler by the minute. Both Danny and Stiles try their best to keep her propped up and steady on her feet and not at all like she’s about to collapse any minute. 

She squints at them, her glare heavy with intimidation. Stiles knows he should be submissive, it's certainly the action that would please an alpha the most. He’s never been good at being submissive and he meets her stare head on, holding it steady until she moves on to inspect the next omega. 

When she’s done inspecting all the omega’s she turns back to look at the southerns, who’ve been hanging back in a cluster. “They seem alright, underfed but I guess we should have specified on their condition.” 

“You remind Hale that we got him twelve omega’s,” one of the southerns snaps back. “It's not easy to get so many of them.” 

She grunts in response folding her arms over her chest. “Get them loaded back into the wagon and bring them the rest of the way into the courtyard.” 

The soldier walks away as the southerns approach the omega’s again. They don’t give them any help getting back into the wagon, instead making them scrumble their way back up into it. Stiles thought they were finally done with that horrible wagon, but instead they go bumping up the path towards the manor. 

They pass two soldiers, each one with a gun slung over their back and acting as guards. The path is cobble stones and going over them in the wagon makes Stiles teeth feel like their rattling in his head. 

As Stiles climbs out of the wagon it feels like there's soldiers everywhere. There's two groups of them training in the courtyard, with another small group dueling with swords off to one side. Stiles senses are also assaulted with the overwhelming smell of alpha coming from everywhere. The smell seems to sink into his pours, and after being with almost only omega’s for a while now it makes him feel a little light headed.

A beta women, whose probably in her late twenties, approaches the southerners and talks briefly with them. She’s not wearing armour like everyone else, instead she’s dressed in a dark green dress. It shows off her collarbone and dip of her neck, where an eye catching golden pendent sits. 

She’s beautiful, and even though she’s a beta Stiles imagines she gets lots of attention from all the soldiers living here. Her hair is pulled into a complicated braid down her back, little tendrils around her face make her look younger then she probably is. It reminds him of the illustrated women in the fashion magazines that they would get sent form the capital. 

“Come along now,” she says as the last of the omega’s gets out of the wagon. “We don’t have all day, follow me.” 

She sends them a slightly disdainful look, before turning away and walking off. They follow after her, all of them scurrying to catch up with her and stay close on her heels. Stiles sure he’s not the only one overwhelmed by all the alpha’s presence, and it seems like some of them are already glueing themselves to the side of the beta like they expect some protection. 

Stiles turns to look back at the wagon for a brief second, the southerners are talking with a few soldiers, one of them being the alpha from before. He’s too far away to hear anything that they are saying but they look deep in debate. 

They head into the castle through a nondescript wooden door. It's certainly not a front door, and they head directly into the kitchen. They continue to follow her through it and a woman, most likely the cook, sends the beta a scalding look as they continue into a hallway. 

He’s never been in a castle before, or even a house close to this size for that matter. Stiles only knows a bit about how large houses like this are run, there was two beta girls in Beacon who had gone off an worked in some lords manor for a few years. They had come back seeming worldly, with an abundance of knowledge about etiquette and style. Beta’s and alpha’s flocked to them, entranced by their educated ways. 

Stiles never had much interest in fashion or etiquette, but the adventures they claimed to get up to did sound interesting. He’s spent many a night fantasising about working in a house just like this one, getting up to all sorts of trouble and possibly even falling in love with some handsome lord or lady. 

She leads them through a hallway in a smaller one story building. It looks older, the stone walls don’t have plaster and paint of them like the rest of what Stiles has seen of the manor, instead a mix of red brick and rugged stone is left exposed. The floor it stone too instead of wood, worn smooth from either time or use. 

Its a bath house, built on top of a hot spring. It's probably original to the house, the bathing area where all the occupants would use. Now most of the rooms have plumbing, and probably only servants use it except for on special occasions. 

“Six of you come with my, the rest of you wait out here,” she says, six of the omega’s following her behind the screen and into the bath house. The sound of their voices are muffled after that, and after a few minutes they come back out looking fresh faced and wearing new clothes. They looking happier to, and their scents clearly suggest that their calmer. 

She motions the rest of them forwards as they slip behind the screen. There's steam rising up from bath, making the whole room slightly damp. There's a bench off to the side, with towels and stacks of clothes. 

“Hurry up and get in, I don’t have all day,” the beta snaps, folding her arms over her chest. 

They all undress, turning away and trying to keep their eyes to themselves until their all in the water. There's a little bucket with several bars of soap that smells faintly of lavender, and they each grab a bar and begin lathering themselves up. Stiles pointedly ignores the idea of how many other strangers have touched this soup too. 

The water is pleasantly warm, and it leaviates all the pain from his joints from the long day in the wagon. It's nice to feel clean again, after having worn the same clothes without a bath for a while now. Stiles dunks his head under the water, scrubbing the soup into the roots of his head. 

He’s never been particularly comfortable with his body, he lacks the curves that omega’s are expected to have. Stiles keeps his body carefully covered by the semi soapy water until the beta makes them get out and he carefully covers his body with a towel. He changes half under that towel until he has to take it off. 

It's nice to be in a fresh set of clothes, even if the material feels rough against his skin. It's not the kind of clothes Stiles would pick for himself, the collar of the shirt feeling too tight around his neck. He’s almost jealous of Erica and the possible freedom that the dress she’s wearing looks like it could provide. 

As soon as their all dressed, all looking slightly uncomfortable, the beta leads the group of them back to the kitchen. While they were given new clothes, they're all stuck wearing the same shoes and the heel rubs against Stiles foot painfully. He’s pretty sure he’ll steal a pair of shoes if he has too. 

They gather back into the kitchen, all of them crowded up in front of the beta, who stands in front of them with her head held high. “My name Jessica Blake. I’m the housekeeper here. I’m in charge of keeping the manor running, and in charge of all of you.” 

Stiles and Danny share a look at that those words, already unimpressed with Ms. Blake. It's not unusual for beta’s to think their superior to omega’s, and it's clear that's what she thinks. 

“You’ll be given wages for your work,” Ms. Blake states, surprising Stiles considering he just assumed they would be used as slave labour. “What you do with your wages is up to you. Your living arrangements, food and clothing will all be provided as long as you continue to keep up with your work.” 

She assigns them to different jobs, and Stiles happy when she sends him off to work in the kitchen. Erica, Isaac, Danny and another omega get the same assignment as well, and Stiles is relieved to know that they won’t be split up. He trying desperately to hang onto any amount of familiarity around him. 

Back home he used to do most of the cooking. It's something Stiles and his mom used to do together before she died. Ever since then Stiles had continued to cook, not only because it made him feel closer to her but it was usually expected that an omega would be doing all the cooking. 

He’s also hoping that being down in the kitchens means he won’t have to encounter any of the alpha’s. Stiles is perfectly happy to hide away down here, and hopefully never cross paths with a single alpha. 

Kitchen duty also seems like it gets them somewhat out of the control of Ms. Blake. The head cook is a beta women as well, but unlike Ms. Blake it appears that Ms. Morrell doesn’t have the same sort of prejudices about omega’s. She has no issues putting them straight to work, and within a minute of being in the kitchen Stiles has a large bowl of potatoes in front of him that need to be peeled. 

The rest of Stiles day is spent within the kitchen, doing whatever task Ms. Morrell tells him to do. By the end of the day Stiles is bone tired and completely decimates the meat pie and mashed potatoes set before him. He’s definitely has earned whatever wages there going to give him. 

Not sleeping on the floor is also a relief, with his muscles aching the way they do. Stiles choses a the bed closest to the wall, curling onto it without even taking his shoes off. The bed squeaks a bit under him as he shifts around to get comfortable. 

Someone's shaking his shoulder and Stiles hadn’t even realised he closed his eyes. Danny’s standing over him, holding out a night shirt and banyan for him. There's a little bathroom attached to the room, a sink and toilet the only things able to fit in the cramped room. He washes his face and goes to the bathroom before slipping on the night shirt and banyan. 

The rest are already in bed when Stiles comes out of the bathroom. He slips into his own bed, missing his thick quilts and soft nightshirts back at home. He lays the banyan on top of his blankets in an attempt to add another layer. 

He curls into himself in bed, tucking his knees up tight around his chest. The room is filled with the soft sounds of sleep. Stiles wishes desperately that his insomnia would go away more than he’s ever wished for it to go away before. 

There's a howl from outside, sounding far away enough that the sound doesn’t startle  him. It's the answering calls, howls louder and much closer that him jump. In Beacon they rarely heard the howls from wolves, he’s only heard Scott do it a few times. 

He wonders what it would be like running at night, with a whole pack. He’s never been very interested in being a werewolf, not aftering seeing what happened to Scott. There’s a possibility of freedom that comes with being a wolf. Never before has he wished to be something other than human. 

 

 

***

 

 

Stiles was surprised to find that he has grown used to working in the kitchen, come almost to even enjoy it, in the short time he’s spent in the manor. 

Ms. Morrell is a fair boss, even if she does seem to take a certain amount of joy out of bossing them around. She’s made it very clear that it's her kitchen, and they will be following her rules. She’s also made that very clear to Ms. Blake, who avoids the kitchen like they’ve all got the plague which makes up for any of the time Ms. Morrell takes a sharp tone with them. 

Her two assistants, Ms. Thompson and Mr. Guivar are good enough company. Their both beta’s like Ms. Morrell, and while not as young as the omega’s they aren't old enough to view that as children either. Unlike Ms. Morrell their both wolves, and slowly Stiles is beginning to get used to seeing the flash of golden eyes. 

Their both nice enough, and if Stiles chooses to ignore the fact that they're here by choice while he isn’t, it almost feel like their the same. Ms. Morrell certainly views them as the same, giving them all demands and assignments with the same steady authority. 

It's been raining non stop for a few days, so intensely there was several leaks in the manor roof so they resorted to putting pots under the leaks in order to keep the floor from getting damaged. Finally about mid morning the rain faded into a drizzle before finally breaking. Its left fluffy white clouds with sunlight breaking through them in its wake. 

After being confined inside for so long going outside is a relief. Ms. Morrell sends them outside to eat their lunch consisting of sandwiches of cheese and salami. Isaac also snagged them some apple pie leftover from the night before, which they don’t even both dividing up instead simply putting their forks right into the pan. 

Stiles takes a seat on the kitchen steps, enjoying the little patch of sunlight like a house cat. He’s sitting next to Kira, the other omega who works in the kitchens with the four of them from Beacon. She’s from the south, and at first he thought she only spoke southern speak. It turned out she was only shy, and once she got to know them she turned out to be easy to talk to. 

She hasn’t talked about what led to her being taken from her home in the south, or even how long she was traveling. It's not as though Stiles or the rest talk about their experience much either, everyone seems to have decided to put those thoughts out of their minds the best they can. There's not like theres anything they can do about their situation anyways. 

Danny takes a seat down besides them, watching the alpha’s who are training in front of them. There's about twenty of them out training in the courtyard, doing one on one exercises with wooden swords. There appears to be two alpha’s leading the group, shouting out instructions and correcting different soldiers moves. 

“Don’t you think he’s rather handsome?” Danny asks in a way that he doesn’t really care about their opinion. His eyes are following a particular soldier but it's impossible to see which one. 

“Which one of them?” Stiles asks in response. Plenty of them are handsome, but he’s happy simply watching from a distance. He hasn’t had a run in with any of the alpha soldiers yet, and Stiles isn’t entirely sure what he’d do if he did. 

“The blonde sergeant,” Danny says, meaning one of the two men leading the exercises. Danny right, he is rather handsome, Stiles can tell even from the distance their sitting away from the soldiers. He’s not exactly Stiles taste, though he’s not entirely sure what that taste is, yet he can certainly see the appeal. 

Kira leans in towards them and asks. “How can you tell which one of them is a sergeant?” 

“When my grandfather was young he was a tailor in the capitol, he used to work on military uniforms for the Hale army,” Danny explains. “When I was little he used to tell me stories and show me sketches from back then.” 

Stiles own father had served in the military briefly when he was young man, though they hadn’t be at war back then. Strangely enough it has been for the Hales, considering now his dad was forced into the Argent forces. 

His dad had told him stories about his time in the army, though as Stile grew up he’d come to realise they were probably all half fabricated. His father stories always included magic just like his mother's stories about her childhood also had been. 

“I think the other seagant is the handsome one,” Erics says, flopping herself down besides them. 

She’s looking less pale and sickly than she had during the trip, but she still lacks a healthy glow to her cheeks. Stiles started to think that she’s never had that glow before, instead always resting on the edge of sickness. 

“There all rather good looking,” Danny says with a dramatic sigh. “Not at all like the alpha’s back in Beacon. We had slim pickings back there.” 

“I bet the alpha’s here are still just a bunch of assholes,” Stiles grumbles, looking on at the training group. 

He doesn’t even turn around, he can feel the looming presence of Ms. Blake. She always seems to be appearing like a dark shadow over his shoulder. She makes an indigent sound. “That's no way to speak of your superiors omega Stilinski.” 

It takes all of his will power not to roll his eyes at her. It's become even more clear that she views alpha and beta as superior, and likes to make her beliefs know. She seems to particularly enjoy loitering over them and bossing them around at any opportunity. 

She’s wearing a rich dark blue dress, lace around her collar. Ms. Blake had more new clothes than anyone Stiles has ever known, all of them in rich fabrics and with delicate lace and embroidery. She dressed like she’s some sort of duchess or princess instead of simply a housekeeper. 

“I don’t know why your all lingering out here,” Ms. Blake snaps, shooting them all a scalding look. “Hurry up inside. I’m sure you all have work that needs to be done.” 

Their break outside was even shorter than Stiles had hoped it would be. Ms. Blake has already fled back inside, though he’s sure she’s loitering about to makes sure the follow her demands. They all head back into the kitchen, Ms. Morrell doesn’t even spare them a minute before putting them to work. 

He and Isaac get set peeling the potatoes, while Danny begins chopping them right beside them. Stiles and Isaac always get assigned to peeling, mostly because Kira always ends up slicing her fingers and Erica leave too much skin on. 

“It wouldn’t be so bad to be with a handsome soldier, don’t you think?” Danny asks. Back in Beacon all the alpha’s were always chasing after Danny, definitely seen as one of the best catches and alpha could get. Stiles thinks any alpha would be lucky to get him. 

Isaac looks slightly scandalized by Dannys declaration. “Their Hale soldiers though. Isn’t that sort of, well … wrong?” 

“It's not like I have any allegiance to the Argents. Neither of them have seems to do us much good,” Danny's says, chopping a potato in half particularly violently. 

“I guess,” Isaac responds sounding completely unconvinced. 

Danny nudges Stiles side not so subtly. “Maybe you could finder yourself an alpha to roll around with.” 

Stiles rolls his eyes so hard it almost hurts. “I don’t think I’m what alpha’s are looking for.” 

“Those alpha’s in Beacon were idiots,” Danny's says more vehemently then Stiles had expected. 

The alpha’s in Beacon had treated him just on the edge of horrible most of the time. They always made it clear that he wasn’t attractive to them, too gangly and sharp to be an attractive omega. His personality didn’t seem to help, mostly his inability to keep his mouth shut usually just got him in trouble. 

His northerner blood is what they particularly seemed keen on antagonizing him over. They called him a witch, both behind his back and to his face. The alpha’s had always seemed particularly angry towards the fact that he was omega as well, as though being a northerner as well as an omega was a partially scandalous things. 

There was times when Stiles had hated his mother's northern blood, and then hated himself even more for that. After his mom died he was the only northern in Beacon, and it was made clear by his pale complexion and inability to not tan only freckle which had been passed down from his mom. 

He had always considered his parents own romance a great tale. They had met right after his father had been traveling home after his service with the army ended. His dad always claimed it was love at first sight, which for a young Stiles had seemed like the most magical thing in the entire world. 

The majority of Beacon had not seen their world wind romance in such a positive light. The most vicious, and popular, of the rumours was that Stiles’ mother had used her magic to seduce his father into falling in love with her and he was simply under the illusion of a spell. 

It wasn’t long after Stiles was born, and it was found out that he is an omega and similar rumours started about him. Most claimed that any alpha that fell for him it would only do so because he had used magic, not that Stiles actually posses any, and that had driven an prospective alpha away.

It was pretty clear that the alpha’s of Beacon considered him completely undesirable unless he somehow used magic to alter their minds. That knowledge is not actually easy to come to terms with. 

So the idea of a military alpha isn’t completely unappealing thought. Really the idea of being with anyone who wouldn't be so caught up in the fact that he’s part northern is appealing in of itself. It's not like they even needed to be an alpha, he’d had a crush on lady Lydia for years and she was a beta. She was also far richer than him and completely unattainable for someone like him. 

“Maybe I’ll get myself an alpha,” Isaac mumbles, face such a bright pink that it looks like he’s suddenly come down with a fever. 

Honestly Isaac could easily find himself an alpha, even Stiles finds those curls adorable. The only reason he didn’t back in Beacon was because he was too scared to talk to any of them besides Scott. 

Danny grins clearly delighted by Isaacs admission. “I’m sure we can find you one, what kind do you like?” 

“I’m not sure,” Isaacs brow is furrowed as he keeps his eyes down on the potato he’s carefully peeling. “I haven’t ever thought about it. I’m not really that picky. I just want someone who's nice.” 

“That's a good thing to want,” Stiles says, giving Isaac a small smile. Isaac looks embarrassed, but gives Stiles a grin anyways. They go back to peeling the potatoes methodically. 

Ms. Blake wonders in briefly, only to get not so subtly chased out by Ms. Morrell. They seem to be in some kind of competition over who can make the other they most angry. Their always encroaching on one another territory, only to get chased out. 

“Do you think it's wrong?” Stiles questions, beginning to cut potatoes along with Danny. “The Hales are the ones that took us away from our homes. Should we really be getting with them?” 

Danny shrugs. “It's not like their personally responsible for all of this. I bet most of them want to be here just as much as we do.” 

Unless they were dragged out of their home and into the streets, and forced to walk miles and miles away from the only place they’d ever knew Stiles doubted that they’d want to be here less than him. He would do nearly anything in order to find his way back home, to his father and Scott. For the people he loves most to be back together again. 

“I still don’t trust them,” Stiles admits quietly not wanting to be over heards by Ms. Morrell or one of her assistants and especially not Ms. Blake. He doesn’t know them well enough to trust that they wouldn’t rat him out, get Stiles into some sort of trouble. 

Isaac nods, face draws in with a furrowed brow and his body folding into itself as he stands. “I don’t trust them either.” 

The walls of the manor feels more oppressive than they ever have before. Stiles wishes he could throw himself out of the nearest door or window, feel light grass and mud underneath his feet. He wants to run somewhere far away from here. 

Instead he puts all the venom and hate he feels into chopping potatoes. Striking the cutting boards over and over again with an echoing thud of his knife. 

 

 

***

 

Back home, when Stiles couldn’t sleep he would go into the kitchen and heat himself up a warm glass of milk over the stove. Its something his mom used to do for him, she used to put tea leaves and just a dash of honey. She claimed it was a special northern sleep recipe, one that her own mother had taught her as a child. 

The kitchen here is Ms. Morrell domane, and he can only imagine the kind of punishment he would receive to be found sneaking around it in the middle of the night. He slips out of bed, heading to the water closet were the dim light casts harsh shadows across his face. 

The shadows under his eyes look particularly ominous under this light. He can’t help but runs his fingers against the dark blue spots, like they’ll vanish under his fingers. Stiles eyes sting from overuse, looking slightly bloodshot. 

Stiles creeps out of the room, leaving behind the sound of soft snores. He snags his towel and banyan before leaving, tucking them safely under his arm. Stiles hums quietly to himself as he heads down the hall, not loud enough to wake anyone but enough that the silence within the manor doesn’t seem to oppressive.

He heads into the bathhouse, the castle warm enough that the whole rooms seems to be filled with humid air. He sets his banyan and towel down on one of the benches by the pool. Stiles just about to strip his nightshirt off when he catches ripples in the water out of the corner of his eye. 

Stiles flinches back when he catches sight of the alpha in the bath, body and neck covered completely in water with only his head floating above. Though the water has blurred the image he can still see the naked form of the alpha. 

The cloths on the bench get scoped back up into his arms, as Stiles takes a step backwards. The alpha simply watching him from where he’s partly submerged in the water, and Stiles struck by how rude it was for the alpha not to make his presence known. 

He folds his arms over his chest, determined to stare the alpha down. “I thought this bath was for the servants only, don’t you have your own bathrooms?” 

The alpha’s quiet for a long minute, simply watching Stiles. It takes all of his self control not to squirm under his gaze, more determined then he should to hold his ground. The defiant nature he developed from being bullied by all those alpha’s back in Beacon isn’t something he can just leave behind. 

“Yes, we do,” the alpha says shifting slightly in the bath and making little ripples come away from his body and run through the water. From what Stiles can see the alpha appears to be a man of few words. 

“I would prefer to bathe alone,” Stiles states, putting his clothes and towel back on the bench. He’s not exactly thrilled about the idea of taking his clothes off in front of this stranger. 

The alpha sets him with a bland unimpressed look. “Then you can come back latter.” 

If it was possible to kill someone with a glare Stiles would have just committed murder. He refuses to bend to the alpha's words, so he strips of his dressing gown and sinks into the water as fast as possible. He’s happy to see that the alpha’s turned his head away, giving Stiles some semblance of privacy. 

The water is a sweet relief, he hadn’t even noticed how sore his muscles were until the water begins to soothe them. His body is completely covered, only his head sticking up above the water. He sits as far across the pool as he possibly can from the alpha. 

The steam is making the alpha’s scent stronger, making it feel like Stiles is being saturated in it. It's as bad as when Stiles first got to the manor, and had been overwhelmed by the scent of all the alpha’s concentrated in one place. 

It's overwhelming but strangely nice, Stiles even feels slightly dizzy with it. He’s sure his scents saturating the air as well, not that the alpha looks affected in the least. Actually he looks slightly bored and mostly just plain uninterested. 

Stiles does his best to watch the alpha without making it appear like he’s staring at him. The alpha’s handsome, or at least Stiles finds him so. He has a sharp jaw and dark hair which is plastered against his forehead. 

He’s never been in the presence of a naked alpha before. Not since he and Scott were little kids and sex was something they had no knowledge of and they’d go swimming in the lake. This is not how he would ever imagine being close to a naked alpha for the first time, so far away from each other that they couldn't even reach out and brush finger. A complete stranger whose name he doesn’t even know. 

The alpha leaves first, not before having soaked in the water for a long time. Stiles knows he should advert his eyes, given the alpha the same semblance of privacy that he allowed Stiles to have. 

It's hard not to look though. Stiles has always been to curious for his own good, and he’s not even sure what he expects to find so different between this alpha’s body and his own. The alpha’s muscular, which is really no surprise. He can only see the alpha’s back out of the corner of his eye, all broad shoulders and muscles. The sprawling tattoo also attracts his gaze. The triskle which is the sign of the Hale family. 

Stiles wonders just how committed to one's country they have to have their symbol tattooed on their back. Maybe all soldiers are required to get it, a way of marking whose who are part of the Hales and those who are not. 

The alpha drys off with a towel before shrugging a robe on. Stiles turns away as soon as the alpha starts to turn to face him, pretending as though he was never looking at all. He keeps his eyes carefully glued to the wall across from him until the alpha’s gone. 

He dunks his head completely under to try to alleviate the heat from his cheeks. Stiles still feels a little feverish when he comes back up, and his cheeks are hot to the touch and definitely pink. 

Stiles floats around in the water for a while, knowing that he should definitely get out. The steem in the room is making the alpha scent stink the feeling in his lungs long after the alpha’s left. 

Scent is something all omega’s are sensitive to, Stiles has always found that especially true for him. He’d become friends with Scott because even as a kid he found his scent comforting. After his mom died he used to tuck her clothes under his pillow because it was the only way he could get to sleep. 

The alpha’s scent is comforting now, making his muscles relax from a hard day's work. He shouldn’t like the scent so much especially considering Stiles has always been more particular about scents than most. He knows he shouldn’t be allowing himself to bask in the scent of a stranger. 

Eventually Stiles pulls himself out of the bath, running the towel over his body and musing his hair. He slips back into his nightshirt, before wrapping himself in his banyan. The manor is painfully cold once he leaves the warm steamy comfort of the bath house. 

When he gets back to his room, it's still filled with the slow sounds of sleep. He climbs into his own bed, stripping off his banyan before getting under the covers. Stiles wraps himself in the sheet and thick quilt high around his neck and refuses to think about the alpha while falling asleep. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

 

 

Stiles defiant nature isn’t really something new. It had driven both of his parents crazy, how much trouble he was always causing. His mother had called him her  _ little mischief _ because he always had been getting up to some kind of trouble. That hadn’t gotten any better as he grew older. 

There was a deep need within Stiles to prove himself. Especially alpha’s, who always seemed to think that their better than him. Stiles has done many reckless things in the name of proving himself to others. 

That's why Stiles goes to the bath house nearly every night for the next two weeks. He has insomnia anyways, which leaves him awake at all hours of the night. Back home he would have lit the oil lamp besides his bed and read whatever new book he was devouring. Here there's little more to do then stare up at the ceiling when he can’t sleep. 

So when he can’t sleep he heads to baths, trying to steem his brain just enough so that he’s able to fall asleep. If nothing else it soothes his aching muscles, and he’s almost motivated to tell the rest of the omega’s if it wouldn’t end up taking away from his alone time. 

The alpha’s there every time, always arriving before Stiles. They haven’t spoken since that first night, over their last six encounters they have seemed to come to an arrangement to completely ignore each other. The alpha always leaves before Stiles, usually without so much as even sparing him a glance. 

Their time together is at best awkward and at worst nearly down right painful. Its Stiles stubbornness that keeps him returning to the baths, not wanting to seem like he's backing down. He’ll bare any amount of awkwardness in order to prove his point.

He hasn’t told anyone about these late night meetings. He can just see the suggestive looks Erica and Danny would send him and the whole notion of it would send Kira into a fit of giggles. He can only imagine the punishment that would ensue if Ms. Blake found out about him sneaking out and spending time with one of those  _ superior alphas.  _

She’s made it quite clear they are not to socialize with the alpha’s under any condition. She had looked close to slapping Danny when she caught him ogling one of them, and Stiles caught her reprimanding one of the serving omega’s who apparently was getting too friendly. 

Ms. Morrell had said similar things but without as much implied threat. They’ve been stuck inside most of the time, only heading out to loiter around the kitchen doorway in the rare times its warm enough outside to do so. They’ve spent more time in an enclosed space then can really be good for them. 

They were sitting around the kitchen table, eating beef stew for dinner. It's a little cold, they always end up eating later than they want to because Ms. Morrell always made them clean the kitchen before eating. Danny and Isaac are debating over who gets the last roll, both of them not noticing that Erica’s already devoured half of it. 

“I’ll never get used to a northern winter,” Ms. Thompson one of Ms. Morrells assistants who's been staring out the little window over the kitchen sink. “I imagine it’ll be starting to snow soon.” 

There's been three days of non stop rain along with icy cold winds. Stiles taken to wearing the woolen coats they were given all the time and his hands gets stiff he doesn’t keep them moving. The closest any of them have gotten to going outside is standing around the cracked open kitchen door to see just how cold it really is. 

Stiles has never seen snow before, though growing up his mother used to tell wonderful stories about it. Snow had sounded like magic and it made sense that those people with the most magic would be drawn to it. Before she got sick his mom had promised that one day she’d take him to see the snow. 

The manor isn’t even in the true north, not like where his mother is from. She used to tell him that during the deepest part of winter the sun wouldn't even shine. There would be long days of complete darkness. 

“The soldiers are going to start spending more time inside,” Ms. Morrell grumbles. “The snow always draws them back indoors. Last year they grew so reckless I thought they would destroy the place.” 

So far the soldiers have still been training outside, rain or shine. It's almost painful to watch them if alpha’s covered in mud and hitting each other with dull sowards wasn’t so attractive. Stiles doesn’t think that training out in the freezing cold and rain is particularly enjoyable for them though, even if it fulfills some bizarre alpha need to look strong. 

“Where will they train then?” Stiles asks. He can’t see why they would stick around the manor if they can’t even train. He knows the manor is supposed to be some military outpost, though they’ve yet to see any action. 

“They’ll practice outside when they can,” Ms. Thomas replies. “They’ll start spending more time then is good for them inside. Last year the the place was a wreck by the time spring came around.” 

Honestly Stiles feels lucky that in Beacon they didn’t have snow. He was a rambunctious kid, unable to ever sit still for long. He can’t even imagine what would have happened if he had to spend several months every year locked inside. Stiles was dreading the idea of it even now. 

“You all better stay clear of those alpha’s,” Ms. Morrell warns setting each omega with analyzing gaze. “I don’t want to have to prepare for a bunch of late summer babies.” 

Stiles feels himself blush at the very idea of what she’s saying. He hates how his mind constantly drifts to the alpha from the bath, conjuring up images of the two of them together with a baby. He hunches down in his seat in shame as though others can see into his mind and view all the scandalously dirty things he’s imagining about a stranger. 

He hadn’t had such thoughts about another person sinse Lydia. Stiles had easily imagine a life between the two of them, a marriage, romance and one day possibly even children with red hair and his nose. He and Lydia weren’t actually friends, but at least she was someone he’d know his entire life. 

At that moment he wished he wasn’t someone who fell into infatuation so easily only to not fall out of it with the same ease. Those desires had never done him any good anyways, it only left him scrambling for something that he could never get. 

Stiles won’t be having any late summer babies. If things continue to go the way they have for him then he might not have any babies ever. Stiles seemed destined to be easily stuck in a place were those who he desires don’t even seem to know that he exists. 

That night when Stiles goes to the baths, just after midnight when the rest of the omega’s are already asleep, the alpha isn’t there. It's the first time he’s been there without the alpha, and Stiles is almost startled by the sight of the empty bath. 

He pulls off his nightshirt and slips into the water, letting the warmth of it envelope him. Stiles sends swirls through the water as he kicks his feet back and forth. The little container of soap by the bath has several full bars, and he gives himself a quick wash. 

The screen of the bathing room opens just as Stiles has put the bar of soap back into into the bucket. The alpha’s there, with his usual robe and towel, but this time he also has a book in hand. 

The alpha doesn’t greet Stiles, or even do anything to acknowledge his presence. From what Stiles has seen the alpha doesn’t seem to ever have any qualms about getting undressed in Stiles presences. Stiles does not share that same sentiment, stumbling over himself any time he has to get naked in front of anyone else. 

Stiles turns away as the alpha gets undressed and slips into the water. The alpha’s never made a signal that he wants any privacy, but Stiles finds he can’t help but turn away. He’s also slightly afraid for the reaction that his body might give at the sight of the completely bare alpha before him. 

The alpha still has the book in hand as he sits in the water. It's Stiles curiosity that makes him try to casually look forward so he can read the title of the book. He tries not to make it to obvious, keeping up their normal pretense of completely ignoring each other as though the other person is invisible. 

“The History of Julian Argent,” The alpha says and the sound of his voice startles Stiles so much he flinches backwards. “Military history from the hundred year war.” 

They had learned a about the hundred year war in school, and the name Julian Argent is one familiar to most. He was the leader who ended the war, and put the Argent family in power. Stiles now wishes that he could remember more facts about the Argent family. 

“Are you trying to learn Argent military secrets?” Stiles teases and then instantly regrets saying anything. From his experience most alpha’s, other than Scott, don’t care much for being teased by omega’s. 

He’s more than surprised when a little smirk appears on the alpha’s face. “Considering they didn’t even have gunpowder when Julian was in power I’m not sure how much good it would do me. This is more for pleasure.” 

Stiles hadn’t even realised that he’s been inching closer to the alpha as they talked, moving his way across the pool. There's still a barrier between them, a metaphorical one and one made from space and water. Stiles knows its best to keep that barrier between them. 

“I’ve never read much military history,” Stiles says thinking fondly back to the stack of books that would always be on his bedside table back home in Beacon. “I always loved folktales and fiction much more.” 

“I surprised you know how to read, I thought it wasn’t in fashion to teach that to omega’s in the south?” 

Stiles shrugs. “I wouldn’t know, I’m not from the south.” 

The alpha wears a thoughtful look, brows furrowed in displeasure. Hot panic runs through Stiles, suddenly worried that he’s said the wrong thing and has gotten himself into trouble. He has a sudden vision of the alpha stomping out of the bath and going to fetch Ms. Blake. 

“Where are you from then?” The alpha’s expression has cleared up enough that Stiles is no longer tense with fear. Instead he simply wears an expression that appears to be genuine curiosity. 

“Beacon, its a town near the border,” Stiles replies. “It used to be Hale territory but the Argents have it now.”

The Argents had taken over slowly, so by the time people realised what was happening it was too late to do anything about it. It was years after they had already taken over Beacon when Argent soldiers came into town and started registering alpha’s and beta’s for their army. That when they had taken Scott and then later Stiles dad. 

“I know where Beacon is, I rode past there once,” the alpha’s says, his voice slow and considering. “What part of the manor do you work in?” 

Stiles pulls back from the the alpha, suddenly very aware of his nakedness. He’s hit with a wave of vulnerability, curling his arms protectively over his chest. Stiles isn’t sure when he developed such a fear of Ms. Blake, the same deep fear he had of the alpha’s who used to mock him back in Beacon. He can even imagine what Ms. Blake would do to him if the alpha were to tell her about their conversation. 

Stiles takes a careful step back from the alpha. “Why do you want to know?” 

“The other omega’s who work here, are they also from Beacon or are they from the South?” the alpha questions, completely ignoring Stiles question. He seems intent on learning whatever it is he’s so curious about. 

“Most of the other omegas in the kitchen are from Beacon, a few are from other border towns. A couple of the omega’s who work upstair are from the south,” Stiles figures he should just give into the alpha’s questions, he doesn’t seem intent on stopping any time soon. 

The alpha makes a low sound in consideration before rising out of the bath. Stiles throws his hands over his eyes in response to the alpha’s sudden nakedness becoming visible. If the alpha minds Stiles seeing his body he doesn’t comment, instead he climbs out of the water and goes to his robe. 

Stiles watches him leave, feeling slightly in shock by the sudden departure. While the alpha hadn’t seemed mad he still wonders if he’s gotten himself in some kind of trouble. Stiles expect Ms. Blake to come waltzing in any minute in a fit of fury. 

She never shows up and eventually he retreats back to his bedroom. Stiles feels on edge the second he wakes up the next morning, and any time Ms. Blake so much as passes him his entire body goes stiff in preparation for her anger.

He’s sure other notice his erratic behavior. Isaac keeps giving him concerned looks and Erica just raises a single eyebrow at him. Ms. Blake never so much as gives him a second glance, and Stiles comes to the conclusion that the alpha never went to her. 

That night when he goes to the baths the alpha’s already there like normal, floating in water. This time he also has a book in hand, what appears to be the same biography as before. There's not as much tension in the air now, as Stiles slips into the water. They share a small smile, before the alpha goes back to his book. 

Later, when the alpha rises out of the water Stiles only half heartedly pretends that he’s not looking. 

 

 

***

  
  


Isaac helps him weave the wreath, pine leaves and red berries around a hay base. It's not the first yuletide wreath he’s made; though it's the first one he’s made since his mom died. His dad was never able to get into the holiday spirit after Claudia passed away, and Stiles knew better then to force him. 

Even after so many years he hasn’t forgotten how to make one. Sewing on the small branches so they lay elegantly over each other and cover up all of the hay base. Isaac takes special care to make sure not even a glimpse of the base is visible, rearranging branches and weaving on smaller pieces when needed. 

Beside them Kira’s working on wreaths for their heads with spare pieces left over. It's more delicate work, and Stiles never been good at working on something so fragile. His mending skill were subpar and and the few pieces of embroidery that he’s ever done shouldn’t  be put on display. 

Kira works on it like the movements her hands make are completely natural, something she was born knowing. Isaac also works with the same natural elegance, like he has to only give half of his focus on what he’s doing. Danny and Erica on the other hands have already been ushered away by Ms. Blake and back into the kitchens to work on dinner. 

Two other omega’s work beside them, a girl and a boy who whisper quietly between each other. They work upstair, serving the food and cleaning rooms. Despite the fact that their all servants here they seem to think their superior to those who work in the kitchen and so far have refused to talk to anyone but each other. 

There was omega’s like that in Beacon. Ones who lived in large houses in the city or manors out in the country. The could afford pastel colors for the spring and rich red and green cloths for the winter. They read fashion magazines and ordered their clothes in from the capital. 

Not only has Stiles never had much of a sense of fashion but he never felt it was right to ask his dad for new clothes every season. He bought new trousers when his legs grew too long and his ankles stuck out awkwardly and shirts when the buttons began falling off. 

Stiles had gotten good at living poor, saving what they could and going without when needed. His dad had a good job, but doctors bills has stacked up during the time his mom was sick. Stiles had always tried to help were he could, took in others people's laundry and did mending for wealthy families. His dad hated him working, always said he should put all his focus into school. 

Most omegas didn’t make it all the way through school, and even fewer made it all the way through and went on to attend university. Only omega’s from a wealthy family could afford to go anyways, the cost of it plus living in a city were too expensive for most. 

For people like Stiles the only hope was to marry someone wealthy or to get sponsored by some rich older lord or lady who was looking for companionship from someone like Stiles. Both were unklikey for Stiles, considering no alpha has ever shown interest in him and wealthy people saw him as a dirty northerner not worth much, certainly not worth getting a free education. 

Stiles expectations for his future were to marry an alpha, hopefully one with at least some kind of library that they would be willing to grow. He’d have a few children, in his most secret fantasies he’d open a flower shop or maybe work in a bakery like his mother had. Perhaps, even open his own like his mom always wanted to do. 

Getting kidnapped by southerns, and forced to work for the Hale army hadn’t been included in that plan. Marrying Lydia Martin and having a million babies with her has seemed like a more likely thing to happen. His life has been rather bizarre as of recent. 

Stiles finishes another one of the wreaths, after a special inspection from Isaac its get set into the pile. The solstice isn’t for another three weeks, but it's tradition to decorate several weeks before at least. If it's nice enough outside that he suspects a few of the soldiers will be outside getting trees for the main hall which they’ll decorate. 

Apparently almost every door needed a wreath on it, which is why they were assigned to make an entire pile of them. Stiles hands hurt from poking it by mistake with the needle and he’s gotten sap under most of his finger nails. 

Next they’ll string cranberries and popcorn to decorate the trees. Ms. Morrell cooked a huge bowl of popcorn over the stove top earlier, burning the first batch to a black crisp. She’s spent the next half an hour mumbling obscenities at the stove and claiming that it betrayed her. 

Ms. Morrell told them that she didn’t celebrate the solstice. She’s not a werewolf, whose drawn to the longest night of the year with so much intensity that can’t be ignored. She had explained to them that growing up religious had not been a part of her childhood, and she continued to ignore its existence. 

Stiles had celebrated yuletide as a child, though without the same intensity of most who lived in Beacon. There had been the traditional presents, and a tree with a strings of popcorn decorations around them. Even one year, right before his mom had gotten sick, has gone out at midnight and got hot chocolate from the local bakery. 

His dad wasn’t particularly religious, and seemed to enjoy the more cultural aspects of the holiday. Claudia followed the northern gods, not that she shared that information with most. Stiles knows that most would see her polytheistic beliefs as abnormal and uncivilized. 

Listening to his mom read from her red leather bound book of folklore is still one of his most cherished memories. On the day of that god or goddess they read their story, honoring them in the only way they could. His mother would sometimes set candles by the windowsill so the gods would know their were people in the house to bless. 

After she died Stiles has celebrated the holidays alone and quietly in his room, the red book stored in a box under his bed. John had made it clear that he had no interest in celebrating those holidays, and had thrown the little red book out into the street not long after Claudia died. Stiles had climbed out the back window in order to rescue it from the puddle it rested in. 

The pages were now permanently warped, stiff waves which he had spent hours trying to flatten. Stiles had been too afraid to take it to the local book repairmen, at the bookstore down the street, in fear they they would tell everyone what kind of books Stiles was reading. Most people already found him strangest enough already. 

He can picture the book now, still sitting in the box under his bed. Soon a holiday will come, and it’ll be the first one passed not reading out of his mother's book. He might not even get to light a candle. 

The thought of that makes his chest feel tight and his throat clogged up. There's not much he can do to honor his mother, and their holiday traditions were one of the few things he kept of hers. 

He’s distracted from thinking about whether or not he’ll be able to steal a candle from the storage room by commotion out in the hallway. They move to go look out the doorway, following the sound of Ms. Blakes rising voice. 

She’s arguing with an alpha out in the hallway, whose back is turned to them. He’s never see Ms. Blake so say much as say a disparaging word against the soldiers here. It was clear she wanted more then to get just approval from all the soldiers, it seemed like she’s looking for even affection from a select few. 

Stiles can’t help but find her attachment and superior opinion of the soldiers disgusting. While she might be here willingly, many of the rest of them are not and therefore carry no love for the soldiers. She treats them like their hero’s, batting her eyelashes and bowing down to their every word. 

The alpha turns and Stiles finds himself once against struck still in surprise. The soldier isn’t another unfamiliar face within the crowd, but instead one that's far too familiar. Jackson Wittermores gaze meets Stiles, looking just as surprised. 

“Stilinski?” Jackson hisses, voice heavily with surprise and maybe a hint of disgust. “What are you doing here?” 

He can feel Isaac come up behind him in the doorway, making a high pitched noise of surprise. Stiles doesn’t even realise that he got a deep frown on his face and his arms are folded over his chest simply in response to hearing Jackson’s voice. “I’m working here, in the kitchens. What are  _ you  _ doing here?” 

Jackson is not a familiar face that he finds any comfort in seeing. Back in Beacon Jackson had seemed to have a particular interest in harassing and teasing Stiles any chance he got. Jackson’s parents were one of the wealthy, living in a large home within Beacon. The money had left Jackson with a huge sense of superiority. 

“Serving in the army,” Jackson replies like Stiles is some feeble minded idiot and Stiles not so subtle rolls his eyes. “How many of you from Beacon are here? Is Lydia…” 

Jackson trails off, some of his air of confidence wearing off. Lydia has always been his weak point, even now after so much time and distance between them. Stiles had figured that Jackson had left Beacon for the safe haven on the captitial, many of the wealthy did when the Argent army rolled in. It appears now that he fled to the Hale army. 

“She’s not here,” Isaac replies, and Stiles is surprised to see him speak up. “She left for the city a long time ago.” 

Those who could leave did, Lydia included. Most of the werewolves left as well, fearing what the Argents would do to them. Scott was one of the few who stayed, refused to leave his mom and Stiles. Jackson, also a werewolf, seems to have fled at the first chance he got. Ready to prove himself in battle the way alpha’s often seem to be. 

“There's a few of us here, only omega’s. The southerners came in and took us,” Stiles explains, surprised when Jackson’s expression becomes a clear frown. He didn’t think Jackson cared much about how they got here. 

Jackson’s brow is set heavy on his face and his question rides the line of snarky and actual concern. “How has Beacon been?” 

Stiles finds himself shrugging in response. “The Argents rolled in and drafted plenty of alpha’s and beta’s into their army. Few months later the southerners came in took some omega’s and beta’s, burned buildings down as well.”

He wonders what Beacon looks like now, its been a little over a month since he left. He wonders if they’ve put the town back together, patched up the buildings that were burnt by fire or raided by the southerners. Stiles can’t help but believe that probably more people have left recently, that maybe Beacon has become somewhat of a ghost town with so many of its residents gone. 

For the first time he wonders that if he ever leaves here, will there be a home to return to. If his dads written to him, if his dads even still alive, then Stiles won’t ever get those letters. Even if Ms. McCall saves them for him, its not he was able to give her an address when the southerns dragged him away. For all Stiles knows he might never see his father again. 

When Stiles eyes meet Jackson he’s surprised by the looking of mourning in his expression. It's easy for him to forget that Beacon is Jackson’s home as well, despite how different they are. Jackson was forced out of his home too, in his own way. 

Isaac, Danny and Erica all lost their home as well. Stiles feels pathetically self centered for acting as though he was the only one who was pulled away from his home. He finds himself flushing in embarrassment at his own selfishness. 

Jackson clears his throat. “I was sent down to hand out these. There's fabric to make clothes for the yuletide festival.” 

He hands over the fabrics into Stiles waiting arms. There rich colored fabrics, in a dark green and red, both tradition colors for the yuletide festival. The fabrics are a soft velvet, while at the same time thick and certainly will keep whoever is wearing them warm throughout the winter months. 

“I didn’t know we were allowed to attend the festivities,” Isaac says grinning, as he rubs his hands over the fabric in Stiles arms. He seems completely delighted by the idea of attending the party. 

“Everyone in the manor is supposed to attend, I don’t see why all of you down here wouldn’t be able to,” Jackson responds with a shrug. He clearly hasn’t experienced or seen the full force of Ms. Blakes controlling nature and her desire to keep the omega’s as far from the soldiers as possible. 

He imagines both Ms. Morrell and Ms. Blake will have things to say about that. Isaacs grin hasn’t faded and Stiles finds himself smiling right along with him. “If everyone's supposed to be there, then I’m sure we will too.” 

Jackson looks as though he’s about to leave, pleased enough with Stiles answer. He’s distracted by the thudding of running feet, Stiles turns to see Danny running down the hallway with a large smile on his face. He practically throws himself into Jackson arms, looking positively delighted to see him. 

Jackson’s smiling too, and not the self centered smirk that Stiles in used to. It's a genuine smile, which makes him look younger and his face softer. He hugs Danny back tight, wrapping both of his arms around him. Stiles forgot that they were both part of the same friend group in Beacon, that life feels like so long ago. 

“I can’t believe your here!” Danny's still holding onto Jackson, grinning like this is the best thing he’s ever seen. “I thought you were still down near the capital finishing your training?” 

“They fast tracked my training and I’m completing it up here,” Jackson explains sounding extremely smug and Stiles is just slightly tempted to point out that he’s probably never even seen an active battlefield. “I’ve been up here for a couple of months.” 

“I can’t believe this is the first time we’ve seeing each other!” Danny exclaims. All the omega’s have spent a bit of time watching the soldiers train in courtyard on the days that the weather was nice enough. It seems almost bizarre that they’ve never even viewed Jackson from a distance, though it's not like they’ve been looking for him. 

Jackson gets very serious suddenly. “Do your parents know that your okay? Stilinski said that the southerners took all of you. We can send of letters out once a month. You can write one and I’ll have it addressed to your parents.” 

“Really? That would be incredible,” Danny pulls Jackson into another tight hug. “What about the other omega’s? Do you think you could get letters sent out for them too?” 

Jackson doesn’t look thrilled about helping them but he seems to bend easily under Danny’s request. “I’m sure I’ll be able to send them out. It's not like our letters get read before being sent off.” 

“Thank you,” Danny's voice is heavy with emotion. “You should probably get upstairs before you get caught talking to us by Ms. Blake or Ms. Morrell.” 

Jackson nods in understanding, he’s already gotten a good enough view of at least some of the wrath that Ms. Blake can release on someone. “I promise I’ll come down as soon as I can to get those letters.” 

Danny’s still smiling even after Jackson leaves, looking like he’s floating on a cloud. Stiles sets the pile of fabric down on the kitchen table where they’ve been working on the wreaths. Danny heads back to the kitchen, not wanting to get caught by Ms. Morrell and yelled at for avoiding work. 

Stiles spends the rest of the afternoon, and well into the evening thinking about what he’ll write. If he could write to anyone it would be his father, but he doesn’t have an addresses for where he is. He’ll have to settle for Mrs. McCall and hope that if she gets in contact with his dad she’ll be able to pass on the message. 

That night when he crawls into bed he starts writing the letter in his head. Danny said they would able to get paper from where Ms. Blake keeps it in her office, apparently in one of her desk drawers. They will probably only get one or two sheets each, so he doesn’t have time to mess it up. 

“Stiles,” Isaac hisses from the next bed over, the lamps are already out and the bedroom is cast into darkness. “Are you still awake?” 

“Yes,” Stiles was just about to tiptoe his way out of the room to go the bath. “Do you want to come over here?” 

Isaac nods, crawling out of his bed and into Stiles own bed. The beds are barely big enough for one person, let alone two. They curl up on their sides, facing each other with their heads somehow both fitting onto the same pillow. 

“Are you excited about being able to attend the yuletide festival?” Isaac whispers, tucking one of his hands under his head. Usually as soon as they turn the lamp off, and Isaacs head hits the pillow, he’s fast asleep. His snores makes it sound like he’s a little dog sneezing, and honestly it's pretty adorable. 

Stiles wiggles around a little bit trying to get in a more comfortable position. He pulls his quilt up higher over his neck and the back of his head to keep it warm. “I guess, though I’m terrible at dancing so I’ll probably just end up embarrassing myself. I’m more excited to be able to get a letter sent back to Beacon.” 

“I’ve never been to a party before,” Isaac says grinning. Like Stiles, Isaac hadn’t had many friends back in Beacon. He was pretty quiet and shy, and often get overlooked because of that. Isaac and Stiles had only become something like friends after Stiles told off some alphas who had been hassling Isaac. 

“Me neither,” it's not as though Stiles was particularly popular back in Beacon, and not wealthy enough to be invited to any of the society parties. “If I was still in Beacon I doubt I’d ever go to one. I still miss being there though.”

Isaac quiet for a long minute, seeming to somehow curl up even more into himself. Isaac plays with a loose thread on the quilt before saying in a hushed voice. “I don’t think I’m going to send a letter. I don’t really have anyone to write to.” 

Stiles knows that Isaacs mom is dead, she died right around the same time that Stiles own mother had died. She had been a skinny blonde women, from what Stiles can remember, and Isaac looks just like her. She worked at the school and she was one of those people who always had a smile on her face. 

“Whats about your dad, or your brother?” Stiles asks. He vaguely remembers Isaac's older brother, who was about five years older than them. He’d enrolled in the Hale army at his very first opportunity. 

“Letters from my brother stopped coming a long time ago which probably means…” Isaac trails off but he doesn’t have to say it, lack of letters probably means that his brother isn’t still alive. “I don’t want to ever see my dad again. Even if I had the chance to go back to Beacon, I’m not sure that I would.” 

“Don’t you miss your dad?” Stiles misses his dad every single day, sometimes it feels like its all he can think about. After his mom died he become extra protective of his dad, hated being separated from him. 

Isaac looks visibly uncomfortable. “He was never a very good father. Before the southerners came my father was going to force me to marry one of his friends. The alpha was twenty years older than me and he knew I didn’t want to marry them and he didn’t care.” 

It's not that unusual for parents to arrange matches for their omega children. For families that have many children marrying off their omega children is often the best option for them. That's no excuse for marrying someone off to an alpha twenty years their senior and against their will. 

Stiles is lucky that his father never even hinted at marrying him off. It helped that Stiles is his only child and therefore marrying Stiles off wouldn’t mean that he would be down another unneeded mouth to feed. Stiles did most of the chores around the house anyways, including all the cooking and cleaning. 

“After we leave here we could open our own bed and breakfast or something,” Stiles says like it's a sure thing that one day they’ll leave this place. “We’ll say that we’re widowers, and out alpha’s died in the war. That way no one will bother us and we won’t have to worry about any alpha’s hassling us.” 

Isaac looks immensely pleased by that idea. “That sounds wonderful. Much better then getting married to some silly alpha.” 

Stiles can picture it perfectly, owning a little inn close enough to Beacon so that he can see his dad often but still a good distance from the town. They would paint the rooms bright colors, and make beautiful quilts for all the beds. Stiles can have all the things he’s wanted, a small library and a garden, without having to worry about being under the thumb of some controlling alpha. 

“It’ll be nice to go to a party though,” Stiles says, mind drifting back to the yuletide festivities. They’ll have to get working on their outfits right away, and they’ve already stored the wreath crowns in a box in the storage room. Stiles pictures himself wearing an outfit made from the red velvet fabric, nicer than anything he’s owned before. 

“Perhaps I’ll even dance with the prince,” Isaac teases with a quick laugh. The illusive prince has been the talk of the kitchen for some time now, hardly a day goes by without some sort of conversation about it. 

They spend enough time watching the soldiers, it's what they do anytime they can go outside. Danny’s knowledge about military uniforms mean they can usually place the statues of any of the soldiers. They’ve been looking for someone wearing royal garb, someone dressed in the finery of a prince. So far they haven’t seen anything, besides the several commanders they haven't a clue who the prince could be. 

Erica thinks that Prince Theorderik isn’t even here, that its a rumour whispered to the Argent forces to try to trick them into attacking. Stiles thinks that if that is the Hales strategy then it isn’t a particularly good one. The Argent forces haven’t attacked, and if they were planning to they should have done it before winter set in. 

Stiles turns to Isaac from where he’s been staring up at the ceiling to find Issac is fast asleep. He extracts himself from the bed carefully, trying not to jostle Isaac too much. Stiles grabs his banyan before slipping out of the room. 

When he thinks about it, slinking around an old manor, yuletide festivities, and a secret prince his life is beginning to seem like some wonderful novel. He expects any moment to set out on a great adventure, cast out of the house by a witch and meant to go follow a path of magic throughout the country to complete a quest. 

It's like something out of the stories his mom used to tell him, from the north. In northern folktales omega’s were always going off on great and wonderful adventures. They were the heroes of the stories, wielding powerful magic to stop any evil in their path. The stories in school were nothing like those northern tales, the alpha’s were always the heroes in those. 

The alpha is in the bathhouse like always, a book in hand as he soaks in the tub. He doesn’t even look up when Stiles enters the room. Getting ignored by the alpha no longer feels rude, instead Stiles has come to expect that he’ll be the one starting the conversation. 

Stiles sinks deep into the water, so it's brushing against the bottom of his ears and covering his mouth. He could almost fall asleep like this if he wasn’t worried about slipping to far into the water and drowning. He keeps his eyes open just enough to keep himself from falling asleep. 

There's a new book in the alpha’s hand, this one is bound with a brown leather cover. Stiles tries to twist and see the title of the book, but the angle isn’t good an Stiles is to lazy to spend much time on it. 

“Are you excited for the yuletide festivities?” Stiles asks, sitting up enough just so his mouth is no longer under water. The alpha looks at him for a long minute from over the top of his book. 

The alpha shrugs. “Back home my family would spend a great deal of time preparing for the solstice. It will be strange to celebrate without them.” 

Stiles knows for wolves the solstice is more important than it is for humans. On the night of the solstice when his mother was alive they’d celebrate Brekszta, the goddess of darkness and dreams. His mother had called out for her to bless them with safety on her day, the same way she’d called out to be blessed by Brekszta when she was living in the north. 

“We didn’t celebrate the yuletide in my family,” Stiles explains and the alpha’s still watching him with a unreadable expression over the top of his book. “I know its a bigger deal for werewolves.”

“Did you not celebrate it because you are a northerner?” the alpha says casually. 

The questions stuns him and Stiles rears back nearly slipping on the tiles of the bath. He’s been so careful not to mention anything out of the ordinary, or hint at the fact that he’s anything but normal. Nobody but those who knew Stiles mother should know anything about his northern blood. 

He expects to be berated with comments, all the slurs that usually come with someone identifying him as a northerner. They never come though, and instead the alpha continues to silently watch him from the across the pool. 

“How do you know that?” Stiles figures there's no reason to deny it or put up any sort of fight. If the alpha knows enough to say that he’s a northerner then theres no reason to put work into denying it. 

“I’ve met northerners before, you look like them,” the alpha explains. Stiles briefly wonders what kind of life the alpha’s lead to have met a northern before. His mother had been an anomaly for leaving the safety of the north to be with Stiles dad. 

Stiles does look like a northern and also the spitting image of his mom. “My mother was from the north but my dad was from the town of Beacon. I’m not a witch or anything so you don’t have to worry about me using an magic. Please just don’t tell anyone.” 

“I don’t see why its anyone elses concern,” the apha replies. “You shouldn’t be ashamed of being a northerner.” 

“You should tell that to everyone I knew back in Beacon,” Stiles grumbles, thinking back to the taunts he was always getting back there. Even here Stiles is still afraid to see how people would react if they knew that he was a northerner. The fear in their eyes about the supposed magic they think he possesses. He’s not prepared to go back to the daily humiliation that life in Beacon was, he’s lucky that Erica, Danny and Isaac don’t appear to care. 

“You shouldn’t be ashamed for being who you are,” there's a earnestness in the alpha’s voice that keeps Stiles from laughing. He looks utterly sincere, like he’s actually concerned about the fact that Stiles is so terrified about others finding out about his northern blood. 

The alpha’s probably a werewolf, he has the look about him. The kind of muscles that humans don’t usually have without looking unnatural. In Triskele he wouldn’t face any brutality for being a werewolf, the majority of the population is one after all. Outside of Triskele things are different, and people fear and hate werewolves just as much as they hate and fear northerners. 

The looks the alpha’s giving him, with so much intensity that Stiles finds himself flushing under his gaze. It's the most attention he’s ever gotten from the alpha before, and he’s not sure what to do with it. He thinks it's probably better if they just went back to ignoring each other. 

“It's silly, but I don’t even know your name,” Stiles says. It feels ridiculous, after the time they’ve spent together even if most of it was in silence. 

The alpha’s gives him what almost seems to be a smile, an upturn of one corner of his mouth. Stiles is surprised how adorable he finds it, considering adorable it not usually a word he would use to describe an alpha. 

“My name is Derek,” the alpha says the small grin still firmly in place and he appears almost pleased that Stiles is curious to know his name. “What’s yours?” 

Stiles strongly suspects that telling the alpha he’s name probably will only get him in trouble one day. “My name is Stiles. It's a nickname for a much longer and unpronounceable name.” 

As soon as the words are out of his mouth he wonders if he should have lied. Of course it wouldn’t do any good if this alpha is really a werewolf. Derek gives him a pleased look, as though he’s happy to know Stiles didn’t lie to him. “It is nice to meet you Stiles.” 

This version of the alpha is very different then when they first met and Stiles finds himself smiling back. “It's nice to meet you too Derek.” 

  
  


 

***

 

 

The day of the yuletide festival they all wake up earlier than usual. Ms. Morrell said that they could attend the festivities as long as they were done in the kitchen by that time. She had clearly stated that she did not plan on cleaning up any of their messes. So they all woke up hours before they normally would, moving their way through the dark hallways of the manor. 

Ms. Morrell has a feast prepared for the festival, roasted ham, and potatoes and even managed to scrounge up chocolate for cake. Ms. Morrell treats each dish with special care, much more care then goes into their daily meals. She lets out all of her fury when one of them does something not to her liking, yelling and stomping all around the kitchen. 

She swatted Stiles with a spoon when he didn’t sift the flour good enough. Making him do it over again twice for good measure. She kicked Danny out of the kitchen for a short while for not cutting thin enough pieces of apple for her pie and then yelled at him for not doing enough work. Kira is the only one she has yet to release her rage on. 

In any spare moments they’ve gotten over the last few weeks have been put to working on their clothes. Jackson brought more than enough fabric to go around, though where it come from or why he brought it is still unknown. He’s come back several time, once to collect their letters and another time after training which led to Ms. Morrell throwing a fit. 

Their all good enough at sewing that they make quick work of the fabric. They work at the kitchen table, sitting around it at any spare moment they have. Stiles has always been relatively good at sewing, the practiced quick stitches that come from years of mending his clothes. Erica’s much the same way, sewing fast even though she barely even looks at what she’s doing. It’s not pretty sewing, but its practical.  

It's Kira that Stiles watches, staring as she makes careful even stitches. She sews like the stitches are meant to be seen, the kind of stitches Stiles used when he embroidered on a set of napkins for his dad's birthday present one year. 

He wonders if Kira’s ever mended or made her own clothes before. She doesn’t talk much about her life before arriving at the manor. He knows she’s from the south but other then that he hardly knows a single thing about her past. Stiles strongly suspects there's more to her past then she’s letting on. 

In the kitchen there's more than a dozen pies being made. Ms. Morrell stalks around the kitchen and inspects each of their work. If he wasn’t more confident in his ability to make mediocre pies and follow her instruction Stiles would have fled the room in fear. 

The problem with waking up so early is by noon Stiles is exhausted, barely even able to keep his eyes open. He’s drunk enough tea that he’s blood probably been replaced with it, and its even left him feeling a little sick and jittery. He’s nearly dropped a dozen plates, and almost an entire plate of baked potatoes. 

If it wasn't so cold outside Stiles would probably go for a walk in an attempt to clear his head. He wishes he had gone to bed earlier the night before, or drugged himself into falling to sleep despite how much he hates the feeling. Stiles is not nearly as good at functioning with little sleep as he thought. 

The fact that he can’t get Derek out of his head isn’t helping matters. He’s not entirely sure when the infatuation began to form but suddenly it was there. Stiles always found himself falling hard for people, often against his will. It's the same thing that happened with Lydia, and now it seems to be happening with Derek. 

Isaac hands him another mug of tea, looking just as exhausted as Stiles feels. He hardly knows how any of them are going to make it through the yuletide festivities. Stiles feels like he could almost drop at this very moment. 

Over the last few weeks Ms. Blake has stayed out of the kitchen. She’s been put in charge of decorating, and her and the omega’s who work upstairs serving and cleaning have been a flurry of energy. Ms. Blake hadn’t even had a spare moment to come down and harrass all of them in the kitchen. 

She has yet to mention anything about their attendance to the yuletide festivities but Stiles can assume she’s not pleased. After all the energy she’s put into keeping them away from the soldiers, letting them socialise and dance with them must be Ms. Blakes worse nightmare. 

Once the last of the pies are all in the oven, the rest of them already cooling on the counter, Ms. Morrell releases them for a short lunch. She heats up some soup from the night before, the lamb is completely dried out but they all eat it quickly. As soon as their done Erica runs and fetches their solstice clothes so they can all make finishing touches. 

Ms. Morrell comes and hovers behind them. “You best watch yourselves tonight. These alpha’s will bed you happily but they won’t wed you.” 

They all give her nervous looks, worried that she's suddenly going to decide that they can no longer attend the yuletide festivities. Danny gives her an apprehensive smile. “We’re just going to be dancing and talking. There's nothing to worry about.” 

“The fact that you think all those soldiers want to is to talk and dance with you has me more concerned the anything,” Ms. Morrell says before making her way back into the kitchen. She’s a beta, and Stiles wonders what kind of experiences she’s had to make her so turned off to both alpha and fellow beta’s. 

They wait until Ms. Morrell is completely out of the room, and hopefully out of ear shot before Isaac leans across the table towards Danny with a large grin on his face. “Do you think you’re going to dance with that blonde alpha your always looking at?” 

Danny’s developed a rather intense infatuation from afar with a blonde alpha. It makes Stiles feel better about his slight obsession with Derek, atleast the two of them have at least talked. Any time their outside and watching the soldiers train outside Danny stares at the blonde alpha from the doorway. 

There's actually a flush on Danny’s face which surprises Stiles considering Danny’s has no qualms about talking about sex or attraction. Danny stares down at his hands. “I certainly plan on dancing with him. Are you going to go dancing with Jackson?” 

Isaac squeaks and his cheeks turn a bright red. Stiles turns to Isaac in completely shock. “Jackson? You can’t be serious!” 

Impossibly Isaacs face seems to get even redder. Danny’s grinning wide, no longer wearing the bashful expression from before. Erica’s cat like grin makes her look like she's about to devour Isaac. Isaacs looks positively bashful at her grin. 

“I just think he’s handsome that's all,” Issac stares down intently as his shirt that he’s been embroidering on like it's the most captivating thing he’s ever seen. “It's not like Jackson would dance with me anyways.” 

Stiles is no fan of Jacksons, and doesn’t want Isaac to socialize with him anyways, but he doesn’t want Isaac thinking that Jacksons is to good for him. Isaacs definitely the superior one anyways, and Stiles believes that because he sees Jackson as less than dirt. 

He circles his arm around Isaac waist, pulling Issac into such a tight hug that makes Isaac realise a high pitched squeal. “I’m sure Jackson would love to dance with you. I’m sure you’ll be the one turning all those alpha’s away.” 

There is a pleased little smile on Isaac’s face, that he looks like he wants to hide. Isaac confidence is low, clearly his father’s ill treatment of him left an impression. Stiles not convinced that Jackson would be good to someone who reacts to harshly to rough treatment. He’s worried Isaac would bend easily under Jackson harsh attitudes. 

They work for another half in hour before Ms. Morrell calls them back into the kitchen. The next four hours are filled with a flurry of activity, until she finally lets them take their leave as the sun begins to set. It’s traditional for the yuletide festivities to begin as soon as the sun finally sets into the horizon. 

Ms. Morrell sends them off with a gentle smile and surprisingly no harsh words. Their clothes are already laid on their beds from earlier, and Stiles quickly grabs his cloths and begins to change. The rest of the omega’s follow suit, giggling as they get ready and helping each other get prepared. Danny messes with both Isaac and Stiles hair though not much can be done for either of them while Erica gives Kira a complicated braid which goes around her entire head. 

Stiles just confident enough to admit that he looks pretty good. The red fabric makes the green in his eyes stand out and his skin looks rosie and pink instead of the usual paleness. The holly leaves which he embroidered on the jacket are one of his better works, and he admires his careful stitchs. 

Kira’s wearing a dress of the same red color, though she added careful lacing around the neckline and bodice. Her embroidery is much more delicate than Stiles own or really any of the rest of their work. She helped Stiles through the process, taking it out of his hands on more than one occasion in order to what appears to be magic on the suit. 

She gives him a grin as she passes him he crown of flowers and leaves that Isaac constructed several weeks ago. “You look very pretty Stiles. The embroidery on the jacket looks very nice.” 

“I suppose I have you to thank for that,” Stiles says putting the crown wreath onto his head and pinning it into place. “And you look very pretty too.” 

Kira flushes, a lovely sight and if Stiles wasn’t so infatuated with Derek and if Kira was just a little more bossy he'd certainly be falling in love with her. Instead he grins back at her, offers his arm which she loops her own arm through.  

They head through the hallways and up the tight servants staircase. Isaac who is walking in front of them keeps sending Stiles and Kira nervous grins. Erica and Danny who take the very front hold their heads high with the kind of confidence that Stiles could never quite muster. They look like they belong here, and want everyone else to know it. 

Stiles thinks Erica looks like a princess, the kind that has their image forever immortalized in canvas and paint. Her forest green dress makes any of the sickness that sometimes longer in her complexion fade, and instead she looks dewy and full of light. Danny, who wears more of a jewel green looks like the prince who is meant to stand at her side. 

It's the first time that Stiles has been upstairs. So far his world at the manor has consisted of the kitchen, their room, the courtyard and of course the bath. He’s shocked by the finery as they open up the servant door into a huge grand hall. A staircase, which seems to come forward like a waterfall, suggests as the continued finery upstairs. 

The decorations for yuletide only make the room even more enchanting, certainly something that Stiles could have only imagined in the pages of a story book. There is candles and wreaths decorating everything with ruby red velvet ribbons. 

There's a few soldiers milling around in the hallways, gathered in groups of two or three and talking. Their not dressed in the uniforms that Stiles is used to, instead stylish clothes in the more subdued color then omega’s wear but are classic for beta men and alpha’s. 

The soldiers don’t hide the way they balk at the omega’s walking down the hall. They stare as though they are some strange foreign beasts and Stiles wonders how little they see omega’s. There quite a few omega’s working upstairs, but under Ms. Blakes pervue he’s sure that they don’t intact much. 

Stiles is unused to be looked at with lust and he’s not entirely sure that he enjoys it. Kira and Issac seem to be equally uncomfrotable, both ducking and hunching their shoulders. While Kira doesn’t appear nearly as timid more of decisive decision to avoid those looks. Stiles can feel his own discomfort radiating out. Isaac also looks like he wants to run back downstairs to the relative safety of their room. 

If Danny or Erica are uncomfortable with the attention they hide it well. Danny had been well liked back in Beacon, and had gotten loads of attention from alphas and betas alike. Erica seems to come into the talent naturally, holding her head high and keeping the catlike grin he’s seen on her face so many times before firmly in place. 

They both would do well as wolves, who carry confidence in their step like it's second nature. Omega werewolves have the same strength as any alpha or beta, and that fact seems to give them kind of confidence that few omega humans are taught to have. Stiles has faked confidence many time, but it's never more than surface level. 

When they walk through the large arched doorway to the ballroom, Stiles so stunned by the sight of it that he freezes. If he was wealthy growing up then he probably would have attended balls and parties as soon as he was deemed old enough to be courted. He would have regularly gone to places not so different from the manor. Stiles was not raised like that though. 

If someone were to tell him magic was involved in this he’d believe them. Stiles suddenly has a vision of a very different life. One where he grew up in a house like this one, attended parties every week and wasn’t so stunned by the sight of the gorgeous ballroom. His past living in a little house in Beacon, son of a northern, fades away. For the briefest instant he’s a lord, or even a prince. 

The ballroom has been decorated with red ribbon and wreaths, as well as in one corner a large tree with cranberries, popcorn and glass ornaments. There's garlands as well, with bows of jewel green ribbon. 

Kira lets out a tight gasp of breath. “Oh, it's even lovelier than I could have ever imagined.” 

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Stiles admits, and then instantly feels like a fool for saying it. There's a worldliness about Kira that makes Stiles feel like a naive fool, he’s quite sure her intelligence could stun any beta or alpha into submission. 

In another life, the one he created in his imagination, where he married Lydia Martin he’d be in ballrooms like this often. He’s have a ballroom of his own too, one where he’d host large extravagant gatherings. 

The center of the ballroom is clear of any furniture, giving ample room to dance. There's a band off to the side, of what looks like soldiers who must possess at least some level of musical talent. There's chairs lining the side, so people can watch while preparing for the next dance. 

The dining room, which is attached to the ballroom with large open arches is filled with small tables. There's tables of food off to one wall, where people can go and get food as they grow hungry. There's the several pies, sliced ham, and potatoes made in three different way and all the other food they’ve been spending the last week on.

The presence and scent of alpha and beta overwhelmed Stiles. He’s spent most of his time with other omega’s and a few beta’s besides his brief time with Derek. Suddenly the scent of omega is no longer the dominant scent, and Stiles feels slightly dizzy with the newness of it. 

There is other omega’s, the one who work upstairs under Ms. Blakes purview are already up here. There's not enough omegas that every alpha could dance with one of them at the same time, but as soon as Stiles notices them starts to not feel so unbalanced. Not that those omega’s talk to them, they seem to have some sense superiority over Stiles and the rest of the omega’s who work in the kitchen. He strongly suspects thats Ms. Blake has something to do with it. 

Ms. Blake's is here too, easily to spotted with all her finery. She’s wearing a jewel toned dress, the neckline a flattering dip. It also shows the jewelry she’s wearing, which looks enticingly expensive. She’s drawing quite a bit of attention, several soldiers are standing around her and talking. 

He spots Jackson standing beside a blonde alpha whom it takes Stiles a minute to recognize, once he does Stiles elbows Danny in the side. “Isn't that your alpha talking with Jackson over there?” 

The alpha that Danny has been lusting over appears to be deep in conversation with Jackson. It's the perfect way to get them introduced, having Jackson there so it doesn’t appear that Danny’s coming up out of nowhere. Danny’s gaze turns towards Jackson and the strange alpha, and Stiles surprised by the light blush that appears on his cheeks. 

“Go over and talk with them,” Erica urges, light teasing tone in her voice and throws Danny's a small grin. 

“Alright,” Danny's responds as though he’s agreeing to some sort of challenge. “But only if Issac comes with me.” 

He doesn’t wait for a response, Danny simply hooks his arm through Isaacs arm and begins pulling him forward. Isaac lets out a quick startled sound and turns back to look at Stiles, Erica and Kira with the most pleading look he can muster. Erica gives a sly smile and actually waves at him. 

Stiles scans the room, seeing if he can spot Derek anywhere. The room seems filled with alphas and betas but none of them are Derek. He tries to push his disappointment away, even if he had spotted him he’s not sure that he would have said anything. That doesn’t suddenly change the feeling of disappointment moving through him. 

“Are you looking for someone?” Kira asks, their arms are still hooked together. She’s giving him a small but knowing smile and Stiles wonders if somehow she knows about his roundevezues in the bath with Derek. 

“No of course not,” Stles quickly responds and focusing all of his attention onto Kira. “How would you like to have a dance?” 

The band has started playing a country jig, something that Stiles is actually familiar with. A few soldiers are already out on the dance floor, the movements silly and loose enough that there's nothing odd about two betas or alpha’s of the same gender dancing together. It’s something that only taboo around certain crowds but definitely not this one. 

Stiles isn’t a particularly talented dancer. At school they had lessons so he knows enough to get by. That doesn’t mean he won’t fully humiliate himself in the process, but he’s gotten used to looking like a fool in front of people. He tugs on Kira’s arm to pull her out onto the dance floor. There's only a few people, so they have more than enough room to make a fool of themselves. 

“I don’t know any of the moves,” Kira says her words dissolving into giggles as Stiles hooks their arms together and begins spinning. They trade partners, and Stiles nearly trips over his own feet as an alpha werewolf spins him around. 

“There isn’t many moves you need to know,” the alpha who Kira currently dancing with says. She gives them a mischievous grin as they trade partners once again. She’s the same alpha that greeted them at the wagon when they got here several months ago. 

The female alpha, whose short hair hangs around her shoulders and her smile seems especially feral, very obviously is admiring Kira’s form. Stiles would almost be bothered, if it wasn’t for the amused look the other alpha give Stiles as they changed partners again. Kira also seems amused by the alpha’s attention, and Stiles can’t yet tell if its in ridiculous or because she returns some of the sentiment. 

The song comes to an end and they head off the dance floor with the two alpha’s. They introduce themselves, and the two alpha’s introduce themselves as Malia and Boyd. Whether Boyd is a first or last name he doesn’t explain and Stiles simply accepts it. It not as though he can speak on having strange names. 

Malia takes Kira for another spin around the dance floor, leaving Stiles and Boyd to talk. Boyd had offered him another dance, but its a more complicated and formal dance and Stiles had declined in fear of making a fool of himself. Instead they hang back near the border of the room. 

They talk for a short while until Stiles notices Boyd is routinely looking for his shoulder. Stiles turns and spots Erica across the dance hall, looking uncomfortable and out of place. Boyd eyes seem to be repeatedly drawn to her, like he can’t even help it. 

Stiles would probably feel offended if he was attracted to Boyd in any way, and wasn’t currently feeling an array of complicated things towards Derek. Instead he tries to conceal a subtle smile. “You should go ask her to dance.” 

Boyds face goes from surprise to embarrassed then to completely closed off. “I’m sure she doesn’t want to dance. She’s probably to busy.” 

Erica staring down at her feet, by herself and leaning against the wall and looking very much not busy. He wonders if Body is intimidated by her, he certainly seems to have no problems dancing and talking with Stiles. He’s seen Erica when she’s intimidating and this moment isn’t one of them. Attraction does silly things to people though. 

“Her name is Erica, and you should certainly ask her to dance,” Stiles even giving Boys a little push forward, in the direction of Erica. Boyd sends him of look mixed with anger and embarrassment but nevertheless heads in Erica’s direction. 

At once the two of them strike up a conversation, both of them wearing shy smiles. Erica takes the hand that Boyd extends towards her to guide her onto the dance floor. Erica’s positively beaming, as they weave their way between those already on the dance floor. 

Kira still out there with Malia, and Stiles is impressed by her ability to keep dancing without even looking a little bit tired. Danny’s still in the same place talking with his blonde haired alpha who looks positively enchanted. Isaacs moved over to one of the tables in the dinning hall, and is sitting between Jackson and another soldier. 

With all of his friends occupied Stiles decides this is probably the best time for him to explore the manor a bit. He heads out of the ballroom and back into the hallway which is now empty. Stiles goes right towards the large staircase, checking to make sure no one is in the hallway before heading up. He’s not sure what would happen if someone caught him, but he certainly has no interest in finding out. 

The manor is just as beautiful on the second floor as the first. The stairway leads up into two hallways, and Stiles decided to explore the right one first. It's lined with doors, and while Stiles certainly is curious it’s not enough that he’d risk looking behind a closed door. The ones that have been left propped open Stiles takes full advantage of. 

He looks into two offices and a bedroom, all of which look well used. Stiles keeps himself from touching anything, knowing that if any of these rooms belong to a wolf they’d be able to get his scent from any item he touches. It takes a good part him his focus to keep himself from reaching out and running his hands over ink dotted paper and the smooth top of old wooden desks. 

The door at the end of the hallway is fancier than the others, carved with delicate patterns which are raises up and painted an only slightly faded gold. This Stiles runs his fingers over it, finding himself unable to resist the temptation. Despite the fact that its wood and worn out it's still impressively smooth under his finger tips. 

The doors open just a crack which Stiles takes as an invitation to push all the way open and head into the room. The sight of the room takes his breath away. It's not a office or a bedroom but instead a beautiful and magnificent library. 

Derek had mentioned that there was one but Stiles never pictured it would be like this. The walls are practically covered in books from floor to ceiling, there's even a ladder that allows for easy access to the books near the ceiling. The rest of the room has comfortable looking armchairs and a couch with end tables on each side. 

Stiles is drawn into the room like there's been a spell cast on him. He runs his fingers against the spines of books, old leather ones with gold leafing, and new ones with cloth and paper covers. Stiles pulls one with a blue leather cover off the shelf and flops down into one of the comfortable armchairs. 

He opens the book, a novel that he’s never even heard of before, and begins reading. Immediately he finds himself completely immersed in the book, imagining himself in a far off place. Its romantic and fanciful, the kind of novel he would never own up to reading because he’s a romantic in secret. 

The door creaks and Stiles gaze snaps up from the book in his lap. It's not a strange soldier or even Ms. Blake standing in the doorway, but instead Derek. He’s holding a package in his hand, as he steps into the room and closes the door behind him. 

“What are you doing here?” Derek asks coming further into the room. 

“I was curious so I went looking around, and I found the library,” the corner of Derek's mouth upticks at those words. “I didn’t see you down at the party?”

Derek's brows furrows and a dark look crosses over his face. Stiles started by the sudden anger present in Dereks gaze, and he almost expects his eyes to begin to glow. The look fades and it replaced with one of carefully constructed neutrality. “I was there for a while but I don’t like parties.” 

“Well it's pretty fun down there,” Stiles replies suddenly feeling oldly defensive. “Perhaps we could go for a dance?”

“I don’t think that's a very good idea,” Derek says and Stiles tries to talk, tries to ask  _ why not _ , but Derek interrupts him. “I have something for you.”

Derek steps forward and thrusts the package is Stiles direction. It’s clearly a book, Stiles can tell that as soon as the package is in his hands and despite the fact that it's still wrapped in paper. Stiles opens it quickly, ripping through the yellow paper to reveal a red leather bound book. 

_ Mythology from the Northern Regions  _ Stiles reads the embossed title on the front of the book. He runs his fingers over it, feeling the tips and groves of the title. He flips through the book, looking at the black ink mixed in with sporadic illustrations. His throat feels clogged up with how beautiful of a gift it is. 

“Thank you,” Stiles voice cracks a little as he speaks and he pulls the book close to his chest and hugs it. It's just like the book his mother had, the one that's probably still tucked under his bed. This one is newer, and cleaner yet very much the same. 

Derek looks pleased with himself, staring at the way that Stiles is clutching the book close. “I’m glad you like it.” 

Stiles gives Derek a smile, pleased to see that his mood has improved from earlier. Nonsensically Stiles knows he would have convinced himself that Derek’s poor mood was causes completely be him. Omega’s are typically more attuned to alpha’s mood swings but Stiles has always been unusually sensitive. It usually led to him convincing himself that the alpha’s bad mood was entirely his fault. 

He tries to summon his most charming smile, which Stiles hopes is actually as charming as he wants. “Maybe we could actually go for that dance now?” 

Quite suddenly Derek's expression seems to cut off, and his furrowed brow is firmly back in place. Stiles knew that it was a long shot, for Derek to suddenly have changed his mind. He had hoped that something would have changed. 

“No Stiles,” Derek snaps arms folding over his chest and posture going stiff. “Enjoy your gift.” 

Deek leaves the room, shutting the library door behind him. Stiles feels a little shocked by the fact that Derek just walked away, so much so that he stays frozen sitting in the chair for a long time. With a sigh he stands up, the appeal of the party no longer exists. He head out of the library, down the hall and back downstairs. 

He escapes down through the servants staircase, heading back down through the kitchen and to his bedroom. With nowhere else to put it he tucks the book under his bed for safekeeping before lighting a candle in the window sill. Stiles lays down on his bed and watchs the flicker of the flame. 

He’s not sure how much time passes, at some point he gets up and changes into his nightshirt. Stiles slips under the covers, and eventually once it gets late enough blows the candle out. Back home he would have left the candle burning all night, but here he’s even supposed to even have the candle. 

He can hear the sound of the other omega’s entering the room, their quiet whisper and soft laughter. The come into the bedroom, and Stiles can hear the sound of them changing into bed cloths and climbing into bed. Stiles continues to face away from them and towards the window. 

There's a dip slight dip in the bed and Isaac says in a hushed voice. “Stiles, are you still awake?” 

Stiles turns just enough onto his back so that he can look up at Isaac, whose leaning over him with one leg propped up on his bed. Stiles tries to muster up a smile but he’s sure it looks feeble. “Yes, I’m awake. Did you get to dance with Jackson?” 

“Yes. What are you doing down here? I barely even saw you at the party?” Isaac clearly wasn’t swayed by Stiles attempts to change the subject. Isaac actually looks concerned, he slips down so he can sit on the edge of Stiles bed. 

Isaacs concern actually makes him feel better, not being alone is doing wonders for him. Stiles curls himself closer to Isaac. “I just wasn’t feeling very well so I came down here to rest.” 

“Do you think it's your heat?” Isaacs leaning forward, and says those words in a hushed nearly silent voice.  

Stiles shakes his head. “No, no it's not that. I just don’t feel well. I shouldn’t have a heat for another couple of months.” 

Heats come every six months, its the time when an omega becomes the most fertile. It's also when omega’s get the urge to bond, and most omega’s when they chose to bond do it in heat. Without a partner heats are painful but its possible to get through them. 

The sympathetic open look on Isaac's face is almost to much to bare. Stiles is far to use to helping other that he’s not sure what to do with Isaac's concern. He’s supposed to be the one getting worried over them. 

“Do you want to cuddle?” Isaac gives him a shy smile, but a sweet and honest one. Stiles has no clue how Isaac has stayed so good after all the things that have been done to him. 

Stiles finds himself nodding in agreement with Isaacs question. “I think some cuddling would be nice.” 

Isaac slips down into bed, pulling the blankets over both of them. Its as cramped as when they’ve shared the bed before though its a cold enough night that the warmth of another body next to his is welcomed. Isaac curls himself around Stiles back who enjoys that feeling probably just a little too much. 

He doesn’t go the baths that night, though in his mind he’s imagines what he’d say to Derek. How he’d releases the anger and disappointment he feels with an unprecedented amount of fury. Mostly Stiles is angry and disappointed with himself, for getting his hopes up once again. 

The book is the only part that trips him up. How Derek has seemed practically dismissive of his actions then unexpected sweetness behind the gift makes him feel off balanced. Stiles isn’t entirely sure how to wrap his mind around it. 

He sighs and tries to push the thoughts of Derek out of his mind. Wishing over things he can’t have has never done him any good. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you everyone who wrote comments or gave kudos. i try to respond to everyones comment but sorry if i missed yours. the next chapter will be posted on Sunday or Monday.


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

The kitchen is a flurry of activity, everyone rushing past each other and nearly tripping over their own feet. The kitchen is carefully balanced system, all of which is carefully monitored by Ms. Morrells neverending gaze. Without her the kitchen’s balance is falling apart at the seams. 

With winter always comes illness, and its been moving through the manors rapidly. He doesn't know how many of the soldiers are sick, though more food is going uneaten than ever before. Both Danny and Kira have gotten the flu, each of them spending a day in bed vomiting out anything they attempted to hold down. 

Even with some of them ill, under Ms. Morrell they still managed to get everything done. She worked them like a drill sergeant of course, barking off orders and hovering more then usual but atleast things kept moving forward. 

Yesterday they’d all been surprised when mid way through the afternoon Ms. Morrell stopped hovering. Instead she sat in the kitchen on her little wooden stool, half chopping potatoes and half staring off into space. It was no surprise this morning when her fever was to sever for her to get up. 

Erica’s out sick as well, she hasn’t been able to get out of bed for three days. There's always a frailness about her but it’s worse now more than ever, and they’ve taken turns looking after her. He can tell they're all worried, even Ms. Morrell had called for the physician to look over before she to fell ill. 

Stile knows Erica isn’t healthy, that there's a deep sickness in her that none of them know how to fix. Scott had been the same way, anytime disease spread through Beacon he got it and usually worse than anybody else. After the bite Scott never got sick again, never had to lay in bed after overstressing his body. 

If he was still on speaking terms with Derek he’d ask him about the bite. He would have suggested in the subtle but not all the subtle way that maybe he should give the bite to Erica. She would make a good wolf, because she would view the bite as a blessing instead of a curse. Anyone should feel honored to have her to be in their pack. 

Stiles hasn’t spoken with Derek since the night of the yuletide festival, several weeks ago. He hasn’t visited the baths since then, other than when all the omega’s go for the weekly visits. He has no reason to go upstairs, and Derek has no reason to come down to the kitchen, so he doesn’t fear that they will somehow cross paths. 

In Ms. Morrells absences Ms. Blake has taken over the kitchen. Any other time Ms. Morrell would have chased her out with her harsh glares and even harsher words. Without her there's no one to do that, and Ms. Blake was all to pleased to swoop in and take control. Ms. Morrells two assistances apparently are in some way also under Ms. Blake's jurisdiction in cases of Ms. Morrells absence. 

She calls all of them  _ omega _ and seems to revel in how confusing it all is because it gives her even more of a reason to release her anger onto them. She’s seems to take a specific kind of pleasure from their displeasure. 

“Omega,” Ms. Blake snaps and they all turn around to look at her. “Put those brussel sprouts in the oven. They should have already been cooking.” 

Stiles is the closest so he assumes she’s talking to him. The second he touches the metal pan his hand feels like it's nearly exploding. He pretty sure he lets out a scream both in pain and shock and immediately drops the pan, half of the brussel sprouts spill off onto the counter and floor. 

“Stiles! Are you alright?” Isaac exclaims coming over to Stiles side and taking his hand in his. Already is bright red and the skin looks like it's starting peel off. Stiles can barely even look at it. 

“You little bitch!” Ms. Blake hisses coming to stand over Stiles shoulder with her arms crossed. “Why would you grab that pan with your bare hand you little fool!” 

He cradles his burt hand close to his chest. “I didn’t know the pan was hot. Ms. morrell never leaves hot pans on the countertop, they have to go on stovetop.” 

“I’m sorry Stiles,” Danny's says cheeks looking flushed. “Ms. Blake told me to me to take the pan out and put it on the counter.” 

Despite the searing pain in his hand, he insists that it's alright. Honestly he wouldn’t be surprised if Ms. Blake did it on purpose. Stiles knows that she seems to have a particular hate for him, though he’s not sure why or where its coming from. She seems petty enough to trick him into grabbing a hot pan. 

“Go and take yourself to Deaton and get that thing wrapped up, I want you back to work as soon as possible. A little injury doesn’t mean you get to avoid your duties,” Ms. Blake snaps back before completely dismissing him. “The rest of you get back to work!” 

Stiles flees the kitchen and rushes to Deatons quarters which are down the hall. There's an infirmary upstairs which the soldiers use for getting their bruises or strained muscles treated. Deaton’s office is on the bottom floor though, and only a short walk from the kitchen. He’s hoping he won’t have to walk all the way upstairs to the infirmary. 

Deatons office is empty and Stiles lets out a pitiful noise with the realisation he’ll have to head upstairs. For a brief second he considers trying to treat the burn himself, but its swelling and Stiles is afraid to touch it. 

He’s been to the infirmary once before, When Deaton had requested something from the kitchen to treat a patient. It's on the second floor, in the back west wing. Stiles hurries down the hallways, ignoring the looks he gets from the soldiers as he does so. He must look rather silly, doing half way run and cradling his whole arm close to his chest. 

There's a few people in the infirmary, including Deaton who he makes a beeline for. There's beds lining the the wall, several of them occupied. He knows that it's probably people who have the flu, so Stiles steers clear of them and hopes that he doesn’t catch anything. 

“Dr. Deaton,” Stiles comes up to stand in front of the desk near the back of the room which Deaton is sitting and scribbling notes. Deaton looks up from what he’s doing, giving Stiles a calm look before standing from his desk. 

“Your Stiles correct?” Deaton asks and Stiles nods in response even though he’s not quite sure how Deaton knows that. “Show me your hand. What seems to be the problem?” 

Stiles holds his hands out which Deaton takes in his, turning it to he can look at the burn. “I grabbed a pan which I didn’t know had just been in the oven. It burned me.” 

“Well this is a pretty severe burn Stiles. I’m surprised you weren’t able to limit the spread of it with your level of a spark,” Deaton moves away and motions for Stiles to sit down on one of the flimsy cots against the wall. 

“What spark? Do you mean magic?” Stiles of heard of being a spark before, the knowledge of magic filled his mother's stories with color. Magic is also the thing that he was teased over for most of his life. 

Deaton nods in response. “You have a strong spark Stiles. Usually a spark of your caliber can trigger the healing process within themselves faster than the average person. Though it does take a considerable amount of energy.” 

“I’m not a spark, I’m just a normal person,” Stiles argues, the pain of the burn now only in the back of his mind. His mind instead is filled with images of magic, the stories his mother uses to read to him when he was a young boy. 

Deatons rubs some salve on the burn which makes it sting, a worse pain then almost the burn itself. There's a cool relief after a minute and Stiles sighs at the feeling. Deaton wraps his hand in long white bandage, pulling it just a little too tight. 

“So you don’t know about your spark?” Deatons confirms and Stiles nods in response. “I’m surprised you’ve never encountered your spark before your well of magic is quite deep, one of your parents must have possessed magic. A spark it usually passed down through family lines.” 

“My mother was from the north, she died when I was young. She didn’t have magic though, I would have known,” its moments like this when Stiles misses his mom the most. He feels cheated by her early death, never being able to know her outside of the childish version of her he knew and the few pieces of information his dads given him. 

Deatons takes a long minute, moving back to his desk before coming to stand in front of Stiles, this time handing him a little vial of liquid. “Some mage’s magic is tied to the land, that's true for many of the northerns I’ve met. Your mother must have been that way. Now rub this salve on your hand at morning and at night, it should help it heal faster.” 

Stiles nods but he’s hardly paying attention to the information about his burn, all of his attention going to the new information about magic. “What should I do with my spark, Now that I know its there?” 

“I could teach you, help you cultivate it. You posses so much of it I imagine it wouldn’t be difficult to access it,” Deaton suggests, for the first time showing some emotion and giving Stiles a look that he can only interpret as pleased. 

“I don’t know when I’ll have time, I work in the kitchen all day,” Stiles grips the vial of salve tight in his hand. He’s not sure if he’s excited or frightened by the concept of the magic within him though Stiles feels frightened with the knowledge that he might not even get a choice about learning to use it. 

“Ms. Morrell has been a friend of mine for many years, I am sure she will allow you to come up here once a week if I ask her,” Deaton responds and Stiles is filled with questions about Dr. Deaton and Ms. Morrells past together. 

Stiles mind drifts back to how kids use to tease him about being a witch. If only they could see him now, with the revelation that he actually posses some sort of magic, Stiles is horrified that his life here could turn into what is was back in Beacon. “Please don’t tell anyone about my magic, even Ms. Morrell. I don’t want anyone to know.” 

“Magic is nothing to be ashamed of,” Deaton says this with such authority that for a second Stiles almost forgets about his past and actually believe those words. Reality and experience to quickly come rushing back to him. 

Stiles tries to summon up a smile but he’s sure it's as flimsy as his emotions feel. “I wish I could believe that. Thank you for the saulve.” 

He slips off of the cot he’s been sitting on, and heads out of the infirmary. He feels like he’s in a slight daze as he heads back through the manor, unaware and unconcerned over any of the soldiers attention on him. Stiles almost feels light headed and feels a strong urge to lay down for a long nap. 

Stiles flees to his room, knowing that it's the closests he can get for some time to himself to think. When he arrives in his room Erica’s still in bed, as she’s been for the last three days. He slumps into the armchair next to her bed. It was brought over so they could keep her company by having small conversation and reading to her in between the throws of fever. 

Erica’s lids flutter briefly before finally opening and revealing slightly bloodshot eyes. Her skins gone from a red flush to deathly pale, with a cool sheen of sweat on her forehead and neck. She’s under as many quilts and blankets as they could get though she’s still seems to be shivering slightly. 

“Water?” Erica croakes, her voice is broken from going unused and the sore throat. He reaches the night stand and helps tip the water in the glass cup and then into Erica’s mouth. Her arms are too weak to hold it up by herself though she still makes a feeble attempt to hold onto it. 

After she’s drunk most of the glass Stiles sets it back on the nightstand. Erica tries to pull herself up so she’s slightly propped up against the pillows. She looks a little better, especially once she’s sitting up. She offers Stiles a weak smile and Stiles tries to give one back as he squeezes her hand. 

“How are you feeling?” Stiles asks as Erica tries to pull her blankets up around her chest and shoulders. Its relatively warm in the room, certainly not as drafty as the kitchen and hallways are. 

Erica’s voice is still scratchy as she speaks. “Better than I did earlier. I think I might even be up for eating something later today.” 

“That good,” Stiles replies absentmindedly, his thoughts still filled with ideas about magic and all the possibilities that holds. 

“Okay, tell me what's the matter,” Erica’s gives him a smile that seems like she’s back to her own self, and for a minute he could almost believe that she’s not even sick. 

Stiles slightly embarrassed that his distracted mindset is so transparent, especially knowing that he should be concerned over Erica. Stiles feels slightly humiliated with his own selfishness. He hadn’t planned on telling anyone about his conversation with Deaton but now it feels unavoidable. “I went to see the physician and he told me that I have magic. An untapped well of it that he wants to help me access.” 

“Magic! That certainly unexpected,” Erica’s says before falling into a fit of coughing and Stiles hands her the cup of water again. 

“I don’t know what to do or think about it,” Stiles admits hating the way confusion clouds his voice. He’s tried his best not to think much about Derek since yuletide, but now he wishes he could talk with him. Somehow he imagines Derek would make him feel better about his new discovery, probably because he’d treat it like it isn’t even that crazy. 

Erica gives him a confused look and lets out a little laugh that dissolves into a fit of coughs. “Magic is something wonderful Stiles. You should be excited. There's lots of people who would love to have magic.” 

“It makes me feel dirty,” Stiles mumbles and his cheeks are flushed bright red. 

Erica grasps his hand, her’s is clammy but her grip is strong. The presence of her touch is surprisingly comforting. Stiles hadn’t realised how starved for affection he was until he felt Erica’s comforting touch. “What those kids said to you back in Beacon was horrible. Magic is something good, not something to be feared.” 

“Thank you,” Stiles eyes feel a little damp and he grabs Erica’s hand tight in his. If Erica wasn’t sick he’s probably curl up in bed beside her, even though he knows Erica would probably pretend to be bothered by it. 

The door to the bedroom opens, and for a brief second he’s filled with horrifying fear that it’ll be Ms. Blake on the other side of the door. Her anger would probably make him burst into uncontrollable tears, or some other form of an emotional outbursts. Stiles feels himself bracing up for the eventual onslaught of hateful words. 

Instead Danny’s standing at the doorway, clearly surprised to find Stiles in here. He looks a little shaky on his feet as he makes his way over to sit on the edge of Erica’s bed. There's a pink tint to his cheeks, and he’s not even wearing his coat which is practically essential to battle the draftiness of the kitchen. 

“Stiles! What are you doing here? How is your hand feeling?” Danny's asks, though even as he says those words he seems distracted. 

“Much better. The physician gave me a salve to put on it,” Stiles tells him holding up the little vial. “I just came here to pay Erica a visit. What are you doing here? I’m surprised Ms. Blake let you get away.” 

“Ms. Morrell decided to come in and is releasing all her wrath on Ms. Blake. It serves as a pretty good distraction,” Danny tells them with a little smile and looking very please when he mentions Ms. Morrell’s wrath. “I’m not feeling very well.”

“Do you think it's the fever?” Stiles asks turning and looking over at Erica. She looks ashamed and he knows that if Danny does end up sick she’s blame herself for it. There’s shame already appearing on Erica’s face, and Stiles knows it’ll do nothing good for Erica to dwell in it. 

Danny shakes his head and turns his head away from Stiles. “Its my heat.”

He’ll be the first omega to get his heat while at the manor. Erica was supposed to get hers several weeks ago, but it never came. She has explained that it wasn’t uncommon for her to miss heats because her body was often too weak to go through one. Heats take everything out of an omega, even when they go through one with a partner. 

Heats are different for every omega. Some go into a frenzie where afterwards they can’t remember a single thing. Stiles own heats had never been that bad, besides the fact that he could never keep any food down during them he was usually alright. His dad used to worry he would get too dehydrated and would leaves glass after glass of water outside his bedroom door. 

During Stiles first heat he had sobbed throughout the entire five days it lasted. Stiles had been fourteen, his body feeling awkward and foreign to him. He had wished desperately for his mom, more than he had in the last five years since her death. Omega parents were supposed to help their kids through their first heats and Stiles never got that. 

After that Melissa would come by during his heat. She made sure he got enough water and food even though he couldn’t keep most of it down. It was better than getting help from his dad who was painfully awkward afterwards. 

Nesting has been the strangest thing that Stiles did during his heat. He would strip all the blankets off his bed and curl up in the pile of them in the corner of his bedroom. After his heat he realise how uncomfortable the wood floor was but during his heat the floor was a safe warm place to be in was all that mattered. 

“How long to you think you have before it comes?” Erica questions, knowing some omega’s can tell that their heat is approaching earlier than others. 

“Probably three days, maybe even less,” Danny responds still not meeting their gazes. “I was thinking of asking Ethan to go through it with me.” 

Ethan is the alpha Danny met at the yuletide festival, the one he was lusting after for weeks even before that. They’ve been talking anytime Danny can sneak away from the kitchen long enough, as well as sending notes back and forth through Jackson who takes every opportunity to complain about it. 

“You barely even know him!” Stiles hisses. “You’ve talked to him what, a handful of times. He’s practically a stranger!” 

Stiles hates the bubbling jealousy that rises up when he thinks about Danny being able to share his heat with an alpha. Its something neary every omega desires, even if their like Stiles and would prefer not to admit it. Most omega’s don’t get the opportunity to share a heat with someone until after they are married. 

Danny's blushes and wears a little smile on his face as he says. “Ethan has asked if he can begin courting me.” 

Erica makes a noise of disbelief and Stiles imagines he must also look pretty shocked. Courting is different for humans then it is for wolves. For humans, ones from well off families like Danny’s, courting means getting to spend some time together with the presence of a chaperon. For people like Stiles it was more about coming home to meet and get to know the family. It isn’t all that unusual for humans to go through several suitors, and get courted several times before finally getting engaged. 

Courting is a much more serious things for wolves. They don’t begin courting someone, human or otherwise, without the strong intent of an eventually mating. For wolves courting is much more like an engagement is for humans. Something that is nearly permanent and not so simple to just break off. 

“If you let him court you, if you marry him, you won’t ever go back to Beacon,” Stiles the idea of that makes his throat feels tight. Ethans part of a pack, and he’ll follow his pack wherever they go which won’t be Beacon. 

“I don’t want to keep waiting for a life to begin until this is over, if its ever over. Not when I could live a life here and be perfectly happy,” Danny's responds his voice only wavering slightly. “Who knows if we'll ever go back to Beacon.” 

Stiles throat feels like it's closing shut, like he can barely breathe. He has to go back to Beacon one day, he has to see Scott and his father again. He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to get through this if he thinks it could be any other way. 

Stils shakes his head. “I need to go back to Beacon. What am I supposed to do here?” 

“Build a life. Maybe find someone, get married and mated one day,” Danny suggests. “Is life so much worse here then it was back in Beacon?” 

The truth is, life in the manor isn’t any worse than it was in Beacon. Actually life here is relatively good most days. The work is hard but he doesn’t mind it so much. He used do most of the cooking at home and he always enjoyed it. At least here he doesn’t get mocked for being a northerner and has more than just one friend. 

It's not like he was building much of a life back in Beacon. He had no romantic prospects, mostly because most of the alpha’s he knew were convinced he was some sort of horrible witch. It's not like he hated the idea of working for a living but he also didn’t want to spend the rest of his life alone. 

“You’ll help me get to Ethan won’t you. Once I’m in heat I’m not really going to thinking very logically…” Danny trails off with a grin, not looking flustered at all at the mention of how out of control he’ll be during heat. Actually Danny looks a little pleased and mischievous. 

Erica doesn’t even wait for Stiles to reply, she does send him a rather hateful look. “Of course we’ll help you. We’re going to help you get your man.” 

She looks delighted by the very idea of helping Danny, even giving him a mischievous grin and a wink. Stiles also suspects that once Erica’s feeling better she’s going to tease him mercilessly, probably just to see how much she can make Danny blush. She wants to make all of them blush and squirm. 

“Ethan seems like a nice enough alpha,” it's the highest compliment Stiles feels like he can give. Stiles doesn’t trust alphas, other then Scott and his dad of course. In Stiles experience it's simply better not to trust them. 

Danny gives him a wobbly smile. “I’m glad you think so.” 

Stiles gives Danny a tight hug, tucking their body close together. If Erica was able to get up he imagines she’d be taking part in it. 

“We should probably get back before Ms. Blake comes here and sets us all ablaze,” Stiles suggests standing up from where he’s been sitting, and giving Erica’s hand a tight squeeze. “I’ll come back later and bring you some soup.” 

“I think I’m just going to take a nap,” Erica says as they head out of the room. Back in the kitchen Ms. Blake gives them a scalding look but doesn’t say anything. Danny bumps their shoulders together as they get back to work. 

  
  


***

  
  


Three days later when Stiles wakes up the room smells like heat. 

For a second Stiles thinks its his own, and panic runs through his body. He’s not filled with that usual sticky feeling that accompanies that general dizziness of heat. Stiles legs are cool between the sheets, and he feels perfectly clear headed. Stiles sits up and looks over at Danny across the room. 

Danny has pushed the blankets in his bed down around his feet. It's clear he’s been tossing and turning, and even from across the room in the soft morning light Stiles can tell that he’s flushed and sweating slightly. 

Isaac and Kira’s beds are already empty, meaning their probably getting ready in the bathroom. Stiles slips out of bed and goes to look over at Danny. “How are you feeling?” 

“Hot,” Danny's says with a weak laugh. “I’m going to get up. I guess it's time.” 

Danny groans as he tries to sit up, taking a minute and helping hand before finally standing up. He’s shaking on his feet, and leans against Stiles side as they make their way to the bathroom. Danny’s skin is hot and feverish from where it touches Stiles through two layers of cotton. 

Danny's splashes his face with water once he’s in the bathroom, though that does northing to get rid of his flushed cheeks. He’s sweated through his nightshirt, and Danny is giving a look of destain at the real cloths he has to put on. 

“Maybe you should go lay down,” Isaac suggests coming into the bathroom. His voice gentle and lays what is probably meant to be a comforting hand on Danny’s shoulder. 

Omega’s are volatile and emotional during their hearts. While typically omega’s are much more logical than alpha’s all of that goes out the window during the beginning of heat. It where all the stereotypes about omega’s being silly over emotional creatures come from. 

Danny shrugs Isaacs hand off of his shoulder and practically growls out. “I feel just fine. My heats hasn’t even hit completely yet.” 

Isaac and Stiles share a concerned look behind Danny’s back. There's not much they can do to convince Danny to listen to their words, an alpha would do much better then they ever could. 

“Maybe we should go get Ethan?” Stiles suggests slowly, keeping his voice light and even in an attempt to not get a rash reaction from Danny. Based of the glare Danny gives both him and Isaac Stiles didn’t succeed. It's not as though Stiles wants to get Ethan, but he knows its what Danny wants. 

Danny shakes his head vigorously though and folds his arms in his chest in a statement of defiance. “I’m fine. Really, I am.” 

There's not much else that they can do to convince him otherwise, besides maybe tieing Danny down to the bed. Instead Stiles and Isaac help Danny change, trying not to mention the fact that he looks like he wants to leap out of his clothes. He’s doing better then Stiles would typically be this far into his heat. 

At breakfast Stiles watchs Danny pick at his food, moving eggs and toasts around his plate. They can’t get him to eat, not even with all the gentle nudging they do. An alpha would be much better at that, their natural instinct is to feed an omega in heat and they have the persistence and skill to do it. 

Ms. Morrell doesn’t mention the clear stank of heat that follows Danny. As a beta her senses aren't as good but the scent of heat is definitely strong enough for her to be able to smell it. She also don’t mention the fact that Danny’s barley even able to work, instead he rests listlessly against the counter. 

Stiles tries not to think about what will happen during his own heat. He’s already clumsy enough he can’t even bare how bad it gets when he’s in heat. Stiles would certainly recommend that nobody lets him in a kitchen during his heat. 

Danny’s sitting in a stool besides Stiles, watching as he chops vegetables. There's a pile of them in front of Danny as well but Stiles been making his way through both of their piles. Danny’s reaches for the knife, before leaving it on the table and setting his head in his hands. 

“I think I might need to lay down,” Danny mumbles the words quiet enough that Stiles is probably the only one that can hear him. 

“Do you want me to go and get Ethan?” Stiles doesn’t particularly want to, but he knows that spending a heat with Ethan will probably be more comfortable then trying to spend it in their bedroom. Danny asked it of them, and Stiles has every intention to following through. 

Danny simply nods his head in response, and Stiles moves away from his station to head upstairs. He’s not actually sure where Ethan is, but he’s hoping to run into Jackson or Boyd so he can ask them. Roaming around the manor trying to find a stranger isn’t actually his idea of fun. 

Stiles doesn’t even get all the way out of the kitchen, before Ms. Blake is looming in front of him in the doorway. While physically Stiles may be taller than her she’s an imposing figure. She seems to suck up all the air in the room and cast a long shadow over them. 

“Which of you is in…” Ms. Blakes eyes scan the room before finally landing on Danny. “You, omega, come over here.” 

Danny wobbles onto his feet, fumbling his way over to stand in front of Ms. Blake. If Stiles was in Danny’s place he thinks he’d probably be crying by now, or he’d probably be laughing hysterically. Danny looks strong, despite the flush on his face and sweat on his brow and forehead. 

“Jennifer, he’s under my purview,” Ms. Morrell says. It's the first time he’s ever heard Ms. Morrell call Ms. Blake by her first name, and he highly suspects this is some strange power play from her. 

Ms. Blake doesn't seem to fall for that and simply raises an eyebrow in response. “That might be true in this kitchen, but their overall care comes down to me. An omega in heat needs  _ special _ care.” 

She takes Danny arm in her tight grip and starts dragging him out of the kitchen. Ms. Morrell looks like she’d burn Ms. Blake down to the ground if she could, but despite that Ms. Morrell is both kinder and wiser then Ms. Blake and she has more self control. Nothing but that fact seems to Ms. Morrell control her anger. 

“Where are you taking him!” Stiles yells following them out into the hallway. 

Ms. Blake doesn’t even turn around to look at him, simply keeps dragging Danny forward. Danny can barely keep up with her defiant pace, and he stumbles over his own feet and probably would have fallen if it wasn’t for her tight grip. 

Isaac and Kira follow him out, hovering just behind him. Their silent support is enough though and he knows whatever happens here they’ll be there to back him up. They follow Ms. Blake all the way down the hallways before she finally tosses a look back at them. 

“I didn’t say you could leave the kitchen! Get back to work!” she snaps at them. 

“We want to know what your doing with him,” Stiles responds with the same amount of viciousness. In the past he’s tried his best to avoid her at all costs, he has no interest is receiving her wrath. Stiles has always been one that will fight for his friends though. 

She shoots them all a scalding look before arriving at the linen closet. What he doesn't expect is for Ms. Blake to throw Danny into the room, so hard he goes stumbling down onto his knees. She slams the door closed and locks the linen closet door. 

The closet isn’t deep enough that Danny could even lay down, he probably could only sit up with his legs stretched out in front of him. It's certainly not comfortable at anytime but especially during a heat when one tends to be more sensitive. The closet is also bound to be dark when the door is closed. 

Isaac makes a wounded noise, something that seems to bubble up from somewhere deep in his throat. “You can’t do that to him!” 

“I’m doing what he deserves,” Ms. Blake snaps back, arms folded over her chest. “Didn’t I tell you to get back to work?” 

Stiles can’t think of anything to do, not with Ms. Blake standing in front of the door with an expression like she doesn't ever plan on moving. He turns to look back at Isaac and Kira. “I think I’m going to go get Ethan.” 

He thinks that Ethan can override any decision that Ms. Blake makes. He’s not certain who she reports to in the manor but he figures someone must he in charge of her. The only way upstairs is past where she’s standing. 

“Where do you think your going?” she hisses as he tries to move past her. She grabs his arm, in the same tight grip that she had held Danny’s arm just a minute prior. Immediately he tries to yank his arm out of her grip but to no avail. 

He doesn't expect Kira to come up from behind him and slam her body into Ms. Blake’s. She lets go of his arm and Stiles bolts away from her and up the stairs. He’s not sure what's happening down stairs, but it sounds like complete chaos. 

As soon as he gets upstairs Stiles isn’t sure where to go next. He did some exploring during the festival, but the upstairs portions of the manor is still pretty unfamiliar to him. He starts heading for the infirmary, at least Dr. Deaton will be a familiar face who might know where Ethan is. 

He’s lucky when he runs into Jackson on his way there, who usually would antagonize him before having a serious conversation, but he must see the look of panic on Stiles face. Jackson doesn’t even begin the conversation with a sharp comment. “Whats going on?” 

“Danny’s in heat and Ms. Blake locked him in a supply closest. I need to find Ethan, Danny wants him to help him through his heat,” Stiles explains feeling slightly out of breath. 

“He’s upstairs, come on,” Jackson doesn't even wait for Stiles to respond, simply hooks their arms together and starts pulling Stiles down the hallway. They head upstairs, passing soldiers who gives them confused gazes as they pass. 

They go up to the third floor of the manor, a place where Stiles has never been before. There's less people up there, certainly not as crowded as the second floor had been. He’s sure the soldiers are growing restless after being forced to be inside for so long, Stiles certainly is feeling that way. 

Jackson doesn’t give Stiles even a second to feel embarrassed over suddenly bursting through a closed door. The room is larger than Stiles had expected it to be, with a large round table in the center and people sitting all around it. Stiles knows his face must be bright red and they all turn to look at him and Jackson. 

Ethan’s there along with Boyd but neither of them is who Stiles eyes are automatically drawn to. Derek, who's sitting on the opposite side of the room from the door, is who Stiles can’t seem to take his eyes off. It doesn’t help that Derek stands too, at the suddenness of them bursting into the room. He’s like a beacon across the ocean from Stiles. 

It's the first time they’ve seen each other since the night of the yuletide festival. Derek looks the same, it's not like Stiles really expected him to change in just a few short weeks. Maybe he had simply hoped for some demonstration of the effect of Stiles missing from his life. 

There's no time for those kinds of thoughts, or the anger bubbling up within him. “Ms. Blake has locked Danny in a supply closet and he’s in heat and she won’t let him out. She does all sorts of horrible things!” 

The words seem to come bubbling out of his mouth, not thought out or well formed. It's enough to get Ethan to jump to action, clearly triggered by Danny’s name. Boyd and Derek follow him out of the room, one on each side of Ethan. The soldiers in the hallways part of them as though they are a rock in a stream. 

Even as they begin to head downstairs to the bottom floor he can hear the commotion. The sound of Ms. Blakes yelling can be heard from all the way upstairs, shrieks what sounds like never ending nonsense. He thinks he can hear Kira and maybe Isaac yelling back, but it’s all overpowered by the sound of Ms. Blake's voice. 

The sound of the yelling is what makes Ethan push past Stiles on their way down the stairs. The sight they are all greeted with is a shocking one. Kira has Ms. Blake pressed up against a wall, on of her arms braced against Ms. Blakes chest to keep her from moving. Ms. Blake is struggling against Kira to no avail, and mostly just yelling directly into her face. Isaacs hanging off to the back, looking confused and slightly horrified. 

As soon as Ms. Blake spots the soldiers her tone changes very fast. “Please help me! These omega’s are attacking me!” 

It doesn't look great, not with the way that Kira has her pressed up against the wall and the fight was cleary two against one. Stiles is impressed to see how Kira was able to wrangle Ms. Blake all on her own, considering he knows Ms. Blake would probably fight dirty. 

“Where’s Danny?” Ethan demands. 

“In there, Ms. Blakes locked the door,” Issac explains, pointing at the linen closet door which is right beside where Ms. Blake and Kira are pressed up against the wall. 

Ethan comes over and doesn’t even bother asking Ms. Blake for the keys. Instead he throws his shoulder against the door, which bends and opens easily under his werewolf strength. Stiles can hear Danny gives a yelp of surprise and Ethans attempts at calming words in response. 

Out of the linen closet comes Ethan with Danny in his arms. Danny looks delirious with his heat, nuzzling his face into the side of Ethans neck where his scent is the strongest. Ethan gives a furious but surprisingly calm look in Dereks and Boyds direction. “I trust your going to deal with this.” 

Derek gives a curt nod in response as Ethan heads upstairs with Danny still in his arms. Derek turns his harsh gaze from Ethan and Danny over to where Ms. Blake and Kira are. Despite the fact that soldiers are here, Kira hasn’t lost her grip on Ms. Blake, she’s barely even loosened it. 

“The two of you are going to come upstairs and speak with me,” Derek says motioning to both Kira and Ms. Blake. 

“Why are you taking Kira?” Stiles demands, having to stop himself from grabbing onto Derek's arm to draw his attention. As far as anyone else really knows he’s never even met Derek before. “She didn’t do anything wrong! She was only trying to stop Ms. Blake from causing any more harm.” 

He’s surprised when Derek turn to look at him. His gaze is surprisingly soft, the kind of look he’d seen from Derek a few times before their fight. It still surprises him, Stiles has expected either animosity or dismissal after what happened at the festival and since then how Stiles has completely ignored him. Instead as far as Stiles can tell Derek’s gaze is filled with nothing but care. 

“I have no interest in putting any blame on Kira, I just want to understand the situation,” Derek resaures, giving Stiles one of his half smiles. His heart flutters in a way that makes his want to throw cold water on his face and possibly slap himself a few times. 

“Alright,” Stiles murmurs feeling some of the tension leak out of his body. He’s been strung tight ever since Ms. Blake first walked into the kitchen, and only now does he feel some of that tension starting to leave his body. 

“Boyd going to stay down here and speak with the rest of you,” Derek says before motioning for Kira and Ms. Blake to come away from the wall. “The two of you come with me.” 

Kira and Ms. Blake follow Derek up stairs. Ms. Blake has calmed down, now looking her regular composed self. He has no doubt that she’ll try to win whatever favors she can from Derek. Stiles doesn’t want to call her conniving but he really doesn’t know how else to describe her. 

Stiles had met Boyd briefly at the festival, even danced with him a few times. While the events of yuletide have been mostly be overshadowed by his fight with Derek meeting Boyd had been one of the better parts. Seeing the way that Erica had gone red faced and giggly over Boyd had been even better than anything else that night. 

Boyd one of the nicer soldiers Stiles has encountered, and his mellow disposition is different then a lot of alpha’s. If it wasn’t for his scent Stiles would honestly believe that he is simply a beta. To see an apha who is not so wrapped up in their own authority and ego is always nice. 

The expression Boyd wears doesn’t giving anything away towards what he’s feeling about the situation. “Would you both like to explain to me what happened?” 

Isaac and Stiles takes turns explaining what happened. It's not as simple as just explaining what happened today with Danny, but all the things Ms. Blake has done to them. Stiles can’t even speak on the things she’s done for the omega’s that are just under her care, but he can’t imagine its anything good. 

Boyd nods along to everything they say though his expression is still carefully blank. Stiles honestly almost expects him to pull out a piece of paper and start taking careful notes of everything they say. Stiles suprised how serious Boyd takes their words, instead of brushing them off like their just two silly omega’s. 

“Its seems like Ms. Blake shouldn’t be in charge of omega’s, not if what you’ve both told me is the way she seems intent on treating them,” Boyd remarks, which makes Stiles let out a little laugh at his blunt statement. 

“There's something else I want to talk about, is that okay?” Isaac asks, his voice quiet and timid. 

“Go ahead,” Boyd replies, and Stiles admits he’s surprised that Isaac wants to spend any longer than he has to around Boyd. Isaac avoids alpha’s like their the plague, and the only one Stiles ever seen him willingly talk to is Jackson and Scott back in Beacon.  

Isaac takes a deep breath before saying. “I was wondering if it was possible that the bite could be given to some of us down here?” 

“You want the bite?” Boyd questions, with enough surprise in his voice that Stiles can only assume Boyds never been asked this question before. Its seems improper to simply ask a wolf for the bite, and most humans who get it it’s only after marrying into a werewolf family. 

“No, not me. Not that I would turn it down but…” Isaac trails off looking slightly embarrassed by his admission. “Erica’s sick, and I don’t think that she’s going to get better. Maybe the bite would be able to help her?”

Boyd seems to perk up at the mention of Erica’s name but his face falls as soon as Isaac mentions that she’s sick and his expression became stormy. It's the most emotions that Stiles has seen from Boyd though, which makes Stiles feel oddly satisfied. 

“Can I go talk with her?” Boyds voice is timid, something altogether strange from a alpha. Stiles realises he’s far to use to getting barked orders by alpha. 

Isaac nods and the leads Boyd down to their bedroom. Erica’s still there, completely cut off from the theatrics that have been this entire day. She’s awake, and even sitting up slightly propped up against several pillows. She still looks ill but definitely better than she has for the last several days. 

Her eyes widen slightly at the sight of Boyd. She tries to straighten herself, clearly an attempt to make herself appear more presentable. She reranges the blankets, and tucks her tanled hair behind her back. Stiles suspects that Boyd likes her just as much now laying in bed as he had at yuletide. 

Boyd crouches down next to her bed and gives what could almost be a smile. “Hello.” 

The smile Erica gives back to his timid hello is absolutely radiant. “Hi, what are doing down here?” 

“I’m wondering if you would like the bite?” 

Erica’s range of emotions is clear from her expressions, she goes from utter shock to complete excitement. There's lots of humans who spend years wishing to get the bite, especially ones like Erica who’ve spent most of their lives sick. Getting the bite offered up on a silver platter like this is what many humans fantasize about. 

There's tears in Erica’s eyes which quickly start spilling onto her cheeks but there's still a smile on her face. She lurchers forward and wraps her arms around Boyd’s neck in a tight embrace mumbling into his neck. “Yes. Yes. Thank you so much.” 

Stiles leaves the room then, leaving Erica and Boyd to what now seems to be a private moment. Isaac follows Stiles out of the room, clearly also sensing that Boyd and Erica need some alone time. Stiles shuts the bedroom door behind them so hopefully no one will disturb their moment together. 

He doesn't know if Boyd is going to bite Erica now, but he supposes there's no real reason to wait. It seems like a strange lack of ceremony to bite Erica there in their small little bedroom. For some reason Stiles feel like the bite should be done right before a large party or something to honor the event. 

“Do you think Boyd would give me the bite too, if I ask?” Isaac mumbles, leaning back against the wall with sigh. He looks just as exhausted by this day as Stiles feels. 

“Of course he would,” Stiles reassures suddenly wishing Boyd and Erica weren’t in their room so Stiles could go lay down and take a nap. “You would make a great wolf.” 

Isaac gives him a wobbly smile before reaching forward and wrapping Stiles in an unexpected hug. Stiles lets out a long sigh and lets his body go a little limp in Isaacs embrace. He can’t remember the last time he wished so desperately that he was home. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed this chapter. since this is my week off i'll probably posting a chapter every day because i want to have this entire story posted by Saturday because thats when i leave on vacation. So the next chapter will be posted probably late afternoon on monday.


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

Their bedroom is small, yet recently it's somehow been feeling incredibly empty. 

Ever since Danny’s heat two and a half weeks ago he’s been staying in Ethan's room. It's nicer than their little room, crammed with their five small single beds. If Stiles was given the option he wouldn’t want to sleep in their little room either. 

Danny and Ethan haven’t bonded yet, but Danny’s been planning a small ceremony to happen in a week. Their as good as bonded, the way they’re already living together and sleep in the same room. They spend more time with each other then many bonded pairs that Stiles have known in his life. 

Sinse Erica got the bite she’s been living with Boyd. Boyd claimed that it was to keep an eye on her, apparently the first few weeks of being a wolf are the most difficult ones. At the same time that Boyd had told Stiles that Erica gave him a wink that suggested that rooming together was definitely not just to keep an eye on her. 

So now the room is just Kira, Isaac and Stiles. He suspects that Isaac will be the next to leave, ever since he asked Jackson if he would give him the bite. Apparently Jackson had to ask his pack alpha before he could do anything but Stiles doubts he’ll say no. Every pack alpha wants to do nearly anything to help their pack grow. 

Once Isaac gets the bite they’ll move him upstairs too. Young wolves are fragile, and apparently it's too dangerous to have him downstairs without another wolf to supervise him. Humans are to weak and easily broken under the strength of a new werewolf. 

It will be strange once it's just him and Kira. They’ll still will see Danny, Erica and Isaac in the kitchen during the day but no longer being surrounded by their presences every minute of the day. Stiles thought he’d never get used to being around them, but now he can’t imagine a life being away from them. 

Stiles has also begun to go back to bath house again, not every night like before but often enough. Derek's always there, who had looked immensely pleased to see that Stiles is coming back. They talk more than they did before, and Derek even brought a book for Stiles to read during his spare time. 

He’s slightly embarrassed about how quickly his feelings for Derek are growing. He’s aware that he’s probably being naive, or possibly completely ridiculous. Derek has never hinted that he’d like to be something more than friendly acquaintances. 

While his relationship with Derek seems to be at a standstill, his lessons with Dr. Deaton are the opposite. Part of the punishment doled out to Ms. Blake for her actions was to take the omega’s out from under her jurisdiction and given to Ms. Morrell. Ms. Blake is still the housekeeper and therefore in charge of the day to day running of the manor but she’s is no longer the boss of all the omega’s. Even those directly under her supervision still have to report to Ms. Morrell every day to make sure everything is going alright. 

Ms. Morrell is perfectly fine letting Stiles go train with Dr. Deaton for a few day every week in the afternoons as long as it doesn’t interfere with his work. The afternoons are usually the least busy, after the dishes from lunch have been collected but its not quite time to start on dinner yet. He usually spends at least an hour with Dr. Deaton during that time. 

During one of their training sessions Dr. Deaton gave him a bunch of old dusty spell books to look over. Several of them Dr. Deaton even had Stiles take with him, so he can look them over and study them before he goes to bed. 

They’ve been mostly using mountain ash. According to Dr. Deaton it serves as a good conductor for inexperienced mages like Stiles though once he has better control over his magic it won’t be necessary. He’s done a few simple spell, a protection spell, an energy spell and even a fire spell which when he first casted it had gone terribly wrong. Burning ancient spell books was not something he wanted. 

Dr. Deaton meets Stiles in his small office down the hall from the kitchen. The office is cramped, books lining the walls with a small wooden desk in the middle and mixed matched chairs sitting all around it. He knows that Dr. Deaton would probably be more comfortable meeting Stiles at his little desk in the infirmary. It's too risky for them to talk about magic out in the open, even if often the infirmary is practically deserted. 

The spell their working on today is a mending spell. It's a rather typical spell, easy enough for mages to get a handle of according to Dr. Deaton. Apparently it's to help him learn more complicated healing spells, and Stiles not so helpfully points out that fixing fabric is definitely not that same as fixing human skin. 

Dr. Deaton slides an already open spell book across the table towards Stiles. The books newer then most of the other spell books Stiles has encountered, probably even from the last five or ten years. The title reads:  _ Basic Spells for a Domestic Mage _ . 

Stiles raises an eyebrow in response. “Are you expecting me to become a household witch.” 

Its at close to a slur about about mages as Stiles is willing go. Dr Deaton sets him with an unimpressed look, clearly not entertained by Stiles comment. “These spells are good for any new mage. Learning the basics will help you with the more complicated spell.”

“Alright, here it goes,” Stiles reaches into the jar of mountain ash and collects a little bit with his hands. He rubs it into his skin as the spell recommends for beginners, for some spells he sprinkles the ash around but apparently it being on his hands is good enough this time. 

Dr. Deaton passes him a soldier's coat, with a small rip around the shoulder. He rubs his hands lightly over the fabric, whispering the words of the spell. He waits a long minute, staring intently down at the fabric. 

Nothing happens though and Stiles lets out a noise of frustration. “You almost got it,” Dr. Dreaton reassures. “Come on, try again.” 

He takes a little pinch more of the mountain ash, rubbing it once again into his hands. This times when he rubs his hands over the fabric he feels of surge of energy running through his arms and fingers. The first time he had felt this sensation Stiles had yelped, and immediately removed his hands from the object. Now the feeling is a familiar one. 

Slowly the fabric starts to knit itself backogther again, like there’s an invisible thread pulling it tight. Stiles can’t help but wondering how it would work for a healing spell, and grotesque images of broken bones and skin melding themselves back together flood into his mind. 

“Very good,” Dr. Deaton replies pulling the fabric away from Stiles so he can inspect it carefully. The place where the hole once was is now impossible to spot. The coat looks as good as new. 

Dr. Deaton reaches under his desk and pulls up another jacket, this time with a large gaping hole across the lapel. “Practice makes perfect. Ge to work.” 

Stiles spends the next hour mending jackets, pants, socks and even sheets. Once he gets used to the feeling its mindless work, and Stiles even wonders if Ms. Morrell put Dr. Deaton up to this so they wouldn’t have to worry about doing any mending later. He could probably do the spell while also having a lively conversation at this point. 

After an hour Dr. Deaton send him back to the kitchen. Stiles is curious about Dr. Deaton and Ms. Morrell’s relationship but he’s too afraid to ask Ms. Morrell about it and doesn’t know Dr. Deaton well enough to question him either. At first he thought they were just acquaintances, but the way they talk seems to be like people who are beyond familiar with each other. 

Stiles knows his curiosity will definitely get the best of him, and he’ll end up asking in the most terribly inappropriate moments. It was a habit of his since he was a kid, and had always gotten him in lots of trouble. 

Like every afternoon the kitchen is buzzing with activity. As soon as he’s through the doorway, Ms. Morrell is already barking at him to get started peeling the potatoes. As much as she acts disgruntled for having him leave, he thinks secretly that Ms. Morrell doesn’t even mind at all and maybe is even happy for him. 

After dinner several long hours get devoted to working on Danny’s veil for his upcoming bonding ceremony. It's a bit of an antiquated tradition, having all the omega’s in a family work together on wedding cloths. Stiles knows wealthy family go out and buy whatever wedding clothes are in style and poorer families often reuse old wedding outfits. 

The traditional way was that as soon as an omega presented within a family they would begin to send long hours devoted to making a wedding outfit, one that probably wouldn’t even be worn for many years to come. They don’t have that kind of time, but between the four of them their able to make quick work of it. It's certainly not as intricate or detailed as one make by a family, but their little family seems to do okay. 

Stiles never really considered his wedding outfit. At school back in Beacon omega’s used to crowd around fashion magazines and look at whatever style of wedding cloths was considered new and lovely. Others would talk about what kind of alterations they planned on making to the ones their omega parent or mother had worn. 

Stiles own mother hadn’t worn a wedding dress, not like the white ones with lace and frills that were used in Beacon. Her wedding outfitted had fitted over her regular clothes, more like a long shapeless robe without sleeves. It was bright red, and embroidered on it was an array of intricate designs. She’d also worn a kokoshnik, a cloths crown with the same sort of beading all over it and two ribbons which fell down around her shoulders. 

She kept the outfit in a trunk by the foot of her and his dad's bed, wrapped carefully in sheet of muslin and with lavender sprigs. When Stiles was little he had planned on wearing it, not caring one bit how strange he’d look in comparison to everyone else. After she died he decided that maybe he'd just forget all about it. 

Now constructing Danny’s wedding outfit, his mind drifts back to it. He’ll probably never get to wear it, if it still even exists. With the house abandoned he wouldn’t be surprised if everything of value has been stolen from it. Stiles probably won’t ever find out, more now than ever he doubts he’ll ever make his way back to Beacon. 

The outfit their making for Danny’s is relatively traditional. Without any fashion magazines or patterns, as well as their relatively limited amount of skill, it's hard to do anything to modern or complicated. The fabric they're using is nice at least, as well as the lace which were both provided by Ethan. The fabric is more of a cream then a white, which Stiles thinks it much better than the harsh white so many choose for their wedding cloths. 

Danny’s stands on a little stool, while Stiles works on pinning the pants together. Isaac and Kira are sewing the shirt together as quickly as possible while Erica is doing a half hearted job on the jacket. With those new sewing machine they’d be nearly done, but without it the project is starting to seem like it's crushing them. 

Soon enough Danny will be married, bonded, wedding cloths finished or not. He’s not sure how much Danny really cares about the wedding dress, but it's one of the few things they can actually give him. It's not like this ceremony will be all that traditional after all. 

With the bonding ceremony just around the corner, the work long into the night. At some point Ms. Morrell comes in and shoos them off to bed, threatening that she’ll have no compassion for them not being an any condition to work tomorrow due to exhaustion. They all cringe at her harsh words, and slinked off to bed. 

Well Stiles slinks off to bed briefly, dressing into his nightshirt and banyan. He waits just long enough for Isaac and Kira to fall asleep before crawling out of bed. It’s no longer due to his insomnia, Stiles doesn’t even wait to see if he can sleep or not anymore. 

Derek’s already there when Stiles arrives, resting against the edge of bath. His broad shoulders are out of the water, his arms braced up against the side of the tub. Derek’s head is tilted back, and his eyes are closed. Stiles can’t help but stare at the sight of him, feeling a little bit hot under his collar. 

Stiles know he probably shouldn’t be embarrassed by his attraction to Derek, but he can’t help but feel that way. The embarrassment feels even more silly because he’s pretty sure that Derek’s also attracted to him. That doesn’t stop him from blushing all the way to the roots of his hair, and feeling horribly awkward in his own skin. 

He knows it just a natural instinct to be attracted to the broad expanse of Derek's chest and shoulders and to alpha’s musty smell. He repeats in his mind that is only natural to feel this way as he slips into the bath, trying to think of sexless things like dirty socks and burnt bread. 

Stiles pulls the book that he brought with him to the edge of the pool, so he can lean over the edge and read it. The books too heavy and large for him to hold it up for very long, and Stiles certainly doesn’t plan on dropping Deaton’s book on magic into the bath. He’s not sure what punishment Deaton would give him, but he suspects it would probably be something like fixing soldier uniforms with magic till his hands feel like there going to fall off. 

“What are you reading?” Derek asks after what must be nearly a half an hour passes. 

Stiles turns to look at him, finding that only one of Derek’s eyes are open. The lids look heavy and he looks completely exhausted. Stiles isn’t entirely sure what kind of military position Derek holds, though he does believe that it's something high up. He images that the work must be taxing, whatever it is Derek does. More often the not when Stiles sees Derek he looks to be on the brink of complete exhaustion, struggling to stay awake. 

“Its  _ The History of Magic _ by Jonas Sokolov,” Stiles says, lifting up the book so Derek can see the cover. 

Derek makes a low humming noise. “Written by a northern.” 

Stiles shrugs, not entirely sure what to make of that comment. He knows that Derek is okay with him being a northerner but he still can’t help but keep his guard up. “I suppose it is. He doesn’t really talk about the north very much. It's a more general history.” 

“Nobody knows magic better than northerners,” Derek comments, and Stiles can’t tell if its some underhanded insult or just simply stating a fact. Derek’s flt voice and emotionless expression doesn’t give anything away. 

Stiles turns back to look at his book, “That's probably because the north is the only place where mages can actually practice magic without being persecuted.” 

Derek doesn’t respond so Stiles begins reading again. It reads more like a novel then a history book, or even one of his boring school books. It reminds him of the stories his mother used to tell him as a child, where he could never tell if they were simply folk tales or actually something real. He thinks that might be a reason why he finds the book so enchanting and leaves him with the feeling that he would never want to put it down. Everytime he uses magic he can’t help but feel just a little bit closer to his mother. 

“Could you read it to me?” Derek's voice is the most timid Stiles has ever heard it and he turns to look at him in surprise. Derek looks nonplussed, if not a little embarrassed, though Stiles finds himself unable to deny him. 

“I’m in the middle of a chapter,” Stiles says, the only bit of resistance he’s going to put up. Derek shrugs in response, closing his eyes again. 

“Alright then,” Stiles tracing his finger down the page to find the place where he left off.  _ “When she came out of the cave some would say that the magic around her was like a cage. Any mage would understand that it was like a hemisphere around her, she smelled of ozone and anyone near her would get caught in her orbit…”  _

 

 

***

  
  


An hour before Danny’s supposed to having his bonding ceremony their still working on his wedding outfit. Their fingers work as fast they can, sewing the seams of the jacket and pants. If Stiles was only brave enough to use his magic in front of them it could have been done ages ago. The outfits turned out better then they all thought it would, mostly because their actually going to have the outfit finished. 

It doesn’t help them work any faster that Dannys is basically vibrating with nerves and excitement. He’s grinning like a maniac, and they keep having to tell him to stop twitching. At one moment they almost thought that he was going to pass out. 

The ceremony is taking place in the chapel attached to the manor. It's the oldest part of the entire building, and it's evident by the fact that there seems to be a layer of dust surrounding the entire chapel. It's also evidence that the manor was once owned by humans, for wolves have no use for the chapel. 

Normally wolves have outside bonding ceremonies, something about their wolfy disposition and nature connecting. It's too cold outside right now for that, which is why most wolves don’t get married during the winter. Some wolves even say that getting married during the winter is bad luck. 

Danny had insisted that since he’s human those old wives tales don’t apply to him. If Ethan believes any of them it's certainly not stopping him. The way he looks at Danny like his heart might just explode is why it's clear that their not going to be waiting on just the weather to change. 

“Is it almost done?” Danny's asks for probably the hundredth time. 

“Oh hush. We’ll be done when we’re done,” Eica snaps back. Getting the bite has given her a new, unexpected amount of confidence. Something seems to be glowing from the inside out, and Erica’s entire being seems positively radiant. 

Danny does hush, as they hem the bottom of his pants so they fit perfectly. By the time Danny’s actually gone back to shaking with excitement they’ve finally finished the outfit. They stand back so Danny can admire his reflection in the mirror. 

“It looks incredible,” Danny’s hand comes up to cover his mouth and he’s eyes look like there tearing up a little bit. Danny turns back and forth, before straightening out his jacket and actually looking like he might cry. 

“You can’t get bonded without this,” Issac comes forward and puts the veil over Danny’s head. They hadn’t told Danny they were making it, Stiles, Isaac, Erica and Kira worked on it after Danny would go upstairs to bed. A veil is a little more traditional, and not very fashionable anymore, but they didn’t think a bonding would be right without one. 

Danny pulls them all forward into a tight hug, and Stiles thinks he isn’t the only one who feels a little bit like crying. Danny presses a kiss to each of their cheeks and even an extra one to Isaac’s forehead. Even though Danny’s been staying in Ethan's room for a while now, it still feels like their coming to the end of something. 

“We better get you to the chapel,” Stiles says hooking his arm through on of Danny’s while Erica takes the other one. “It would be rude to show up to your own bonding ceremony late.” 

They have to walk through the entire manor to get to the chapel, there’s an outside entrance to the chapel but it's much too cold to access it. The winter seems to be never ending. Stiles can’t even imagine what it would be like to live in the north where winters are far longer and much harsher. 

Stiles feels like he’s in a parade as they make their way through the manor. Soldiers stop and stare at them, like they’ve never seen an omega or someone in wedding clothes before. Danny holds his head high, as though he doesn’t even notice the extra intention. It's his bonding day, Stiles thinks it only right that he doesn’t have to notice anything else but his bonding. 

The door leading into the chapel is large and wooden, thick slightly rusted metal handles on it. It looks different than the rest of the manor, which is cleaned daily and a large amount of the furniture is moden enough, especially in comparison to the rather ancient chapel. It’s clear it was built long before the construction on the manor began. 

They stop in front of the door, all hovering around it with a sense of anticipation. Stiles thinks they're all waiting for someone to make a move, open the door and let the ceremony begin. Instead they all give each other anxious and excited looks and begin an aborted mission to open the doors or suggesting they move into the chapel. 

“You can’t get bonded without having someone to walk you down the aisle,” Jackson says a he rounds the corner of hallways and coming to stand beside them. 

The look that Danny gives Jackson is one of pure joy. Jackson hooks his arm through Danny’s and presses a quick kiss to his cheek. Its traditional to get walked down the aisle by an alpha or male parent, or if not the closest alpha relative. Jackson is as much of a brother as Danny has here. 

Erica and Isaac open the two wooden doors, revealing the aisle of the chapel with Ethan standing at the end. Stiles and the three other omega’s walk down the aisle first, while Jackson and Danny follow behind them. There is a large old weathered piano in the chapel that one of the soldiers who was in the band the night of the festival is playing. Even to Stiles unexperienced ears it sounds slightly off key for the traditional wedding march song. 

Their probably two dozen people sitting in the pews, though the only people that Stiles recognizes are Derek and Boyd. Their sitting in the front pews, and the omega’s slip into the front pew on the opposite side. Deaton is standing beside Ethan, simply there to provide the more technical aspects of the ceremony. 

Jackson passes Danny’s hand off to Ethan's with a flourish, following the slightly antiquated tradition of passing an omega off to their mate. The act makes Danny’s laugh and Ethan gives him a sweet smile. Love, affection and lust are are clear in Ethans expression and it's almost difficult to look at. 

Stiles finds himself sneaking glances at Derek across the aisle and for just a second his eyes meet Dereks. He looks away as quickly as he can, making himself feel a little dizzy, though he already knows that he’s been caught. Stiles is sure he’s blushing bright red, and puts all of his concentration into staring straight ahead. 

Deaton presses dirt to Danny’s and then Ethan’s forehead. “You will be bond in mind,” Deaton then moves down to press dirt to both their cheats. “In heart and in spirit.” 

Deaton takes a length of red ribbon and binds Danny and Ethans hands together. Its a traditional werewolf bonding ceremony, based on old folktales about the werewolf goddess Luna. It's said that when she came to down to earth she blessed the ground between to lovers feet, which they used to become the first mated couple. Ever since then werewolf bonding ceremonies consider it good luck to press dirt to their forehead and chest. 

The ceremony ends with thunderous clapping from everyone in the pews. Danny and Ethan walk out to the sound the wedding march, looking like they are nearly skipping down the aisle. The rest of them follow behind, trying to imitate the same joyful skip in their step. They all head to the dinning hall, where they’ve already have a wedding feast set out. 

Even more people join for the wedding feast, clearly excited simply by the prospect of food more than any wedding ceremony. The dining hall is bustling with noise and Stiles has to push his way past soldiers to get a plate of food and than get a seat at a table. Stiles weaves his way into a seat between Jackson and Kira. 

Derek takes the seat across from him and Stiles tries to look anywhere but his face. He starts up a conversation with Kira in an attempt to not be stuck staring at Derek across the table, and when that fades he actually willingly begins a conversation with Jackson. 

For the rest of the night Derek seems to be everywhere though. Anytime Stiles looks around the room Derek seems to be there, always resting just on the edge of his vision. Whatever table Stiles sitting at Derek also seems to almost magically appear there as well. 

A few hours after dinner is done the dancing starts. Soldier seem to pull out instruments seemingly out of nowhere, and tables get moves to the side in order to set up a big enough space for dancing. 

Stiles feel a touch on his shoulder and he turns to find Derek standing behind him. “I was wondering if your would like to dance?” 

The memory of their fight at the yuletide festival comes back to him, the anger that rest low and deep in side of him. For a second Stiles thinks about refusing, but he can’t bring himself to the level of pettiness. Stiles takes Derek’s hand in his. “I would love to dance.” 

Derek leads him out onto the dance floor and fits them into the people already out there. Danny and Ethan have taken a spot in the center of the dance floor, and all the other couples work their way around them. 

Stiles is not a great dancer, but the way Derek moves him around the dance floor makes it seem like he is. They make it through several dances but before long Stiles feet are too tired to go on, and he has to go sit down while Derek leaves to go get them something to drink. Stiles feel out of breath, and it’s definitely not just from dancing. 

Erica and Isaac come and drops down into the sheets beside him. The mischievous looks that Erica gives him means that she definitely it up to no good. “Who was the delicious alpha you were dancing with earlier.” 

Erica is already in a relationship with Boyd, and Stiles wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the next person walking down the aisle. Even in her state of pre-bonding relationship it certainly hasn’t stopped her from noticing, and talking about, how handsome some of the other soldiers are. 

“He’s not anyone special,” Stiles immediately cringes at how defensive his voice sounds and how Erica devious grin grows even wider. “I’ve only talked to him a few times.” 

“You know I’m a wolf now, I can hear when your lying,” Erica says proudly. “He’s very handsome. It would be a wasted opportunity to not take him to bed.” 

Stiles pretty sure his mouth has dropped to the floor and Stiles knows that his face must be pink and blotchy. Their in a room with a bunch of werewolves, and it's not unlikely that most of them can hear his and Erica’s conversation, and Stiles practically prays that Derek hasn’t heard any of it. 

“Erica!” he hisses giving her what he hopes is both a scolding and unimpressed look. “I’m not going to take him to bed, I barely even know him.” 

“That wouldn’t stop an alpha,” Erica replies with a shrug, but quickly gets distracted by their conversation when Boyd comes over and asks her to dance. They make a good looking couple, especially with the adoring looks that they share between themselves. 

Stiles turns to talk with Isaac who gives him a sweet look and says. “Maybe you’ll be the next one to get bonded. I thought it would be Erica but maybe you’ll be first.” 

“Whats about you and Jackson?” Stiles questions and is pleased by the bright red and slightly embarrassed look that Isaac gets on his face. Isaac isn’t like Erica and Danny who openly talk about sex. He’s much more like Stiles who mumbles awkwardly and blushes bright red as the sheer mention of it. 

“I don’t think Jackson really that interested in me. I can’t tell, one minute he seems interested and then the next…” Isaac trails off looking across the room where Jackson’s talking with a group of soldiers. The look that Isaacs giving Jackson can’t be described as anything but filled with longing, and Stiles honestly can’t understand how anyone can feel that way about Jackson. 

Isaacs wonderful though, and Stiles still firmly believes that Isaac deserves someone better than Jackson. But unfortunately Jackson is the person that Isaac wants, and Stiles also firmly believes that Isaac should get whatever he wants. 

“If your interested in him you should go over there and ask him to dance,” Stiles declares. 

It’s taboo of course for omega’s to makes the first move. Jackson and Isaac have been dancing around each other for a while though, so it's not really like he’s making the first move. Still alpha’s tend to be fragile creatures and an omega making any sort of move can offend a certain type of alpha. 

Isaac gets a determined look on his face and Stiles suddenly is worried that he just gave Isaac some horrible advice. “I’m going to go over and ask Jackson to dance with me.” 

Stiles watches as Isaac crosses the room to where Jackson is standing. The room is too loud and Isaac is too far away for Stiles to be able to hear what he’s saying. Issac back is also turned to Stiles, so he can’t even make a probably poor attempt at trying to read his lips. While Isaacs back is turned to him, he gets a full view of Jackson's face. 

He expects to see anger on Jackson’s face, form the experiences Stiles has had with him he has alway been one of extremely petty behavior. Anger never comes though and instead Jackson's face shows the most genuine smile Stiles evers seen from him. Jackson offers Isaac his hand, and leads him out among the other dancer. 

Stiles gets distracted from watching Jacksons and Isaac when Derek’s approaches, offering Stiles a cup of apple cider which he happily accepts. The cider is spicy and hot on his tongue and completely delicious and Stiles guzzles it down like a dying man having a finial sip of water. By the time he’s done with that first sip the glass is already half empty. 

“Who were you making all those faces at?” Derek asks and for a minute Stiles doesn't know what he means. Of course Stiles then remembers he probably wasn’t doing a very good job containing his feelings about what Isaac and Jackson were doing. 

“I was watching Isaac and Jackson, they’ve been flirting for a while now and I was glad that Isaac finally decided to go do something about it,” Stiles replies. 

Derek makes a low sound in consideration before giving Stiles a small smile. “Jackson seem very taken with Isaac. Maybe seeing Danny and Ethan getting married has given him some  _ romantic notions _ .” 

The last few words are teasing but there's no hint of malice in his voice. Derek actually looks quite genuinely happy for them and the thought of that brings a smile to Stiles face. 

“Do weddings give you romantic notions?” Stiles asks the words basically tumbling out of his mouth. He question is definitely to forwards and far to invasive. Stiles almost expects Derek to run away as fast as he can and never speak to Stiles again. 

He does not expect the small smile which Derek gives him. “Maybe they do. Would you like to go for another dance?” 

Stiles couldn’t refuse the offer even if he wanted to, and he certainly doesn’t. He slips his hands into Derek’s, and together they make their way back out onto the dance floor. Derek spins him around the dance floor and Stiles almost thinks he might faint when Derek pulls him close. Their pressed chest to chest and Stiles has one hand resting upon Derek’s shoulder and his other hand is clamped warm within Derek's grip. 

Derek is so unbelievably handsome and Stiles can’t understand why Derek would give him even a minute of his time. Stiles wishes he could get up on his tippy toes and press a long kiss to Derek lips. He wonders if Derek can smell his arousal, he sure he stinks with omega phermeons and lust. 

“Can I ask you a question, and you have to promise you won't get mad?” Stiles asks, keeping his voice low so he hopes no one will overhear their conversation. 

“Of course, though I can’t promise that I won't get mad. I’ll try my best though,” Derek responds and Stiles not sure if he just imagined it but he thinks Derek might pull him even closer. Their bodies fit well together and Stiles can easily imagine tucking himself against Derek’s side while in bed, breathing in his wonderful alpha scent. 

For a second Stiles thinks that maybe he shouldn’t ask his question, practice keeping his curiosity to himself. The two of them are in good place and Stiles isn’t eager to ruin that. Still his curiosity always gets the better of him. “The night of yuletide you refused to dance with me but now you do. Why?” 

Derek looks away from Stiles, clearly lost deep in thought. For a minute Stiles thought he was mad but he doesn’t pull away from Stiles at all. The hand that is pressed delicitaly against Stiles waist begins to rub slow calming circles against his side. 

“My parents were both murdered the night of the yuletide, several years ago,” Derek says and Stiles lets out a shocked breath. “That's no excuse for getting mad at you. And I’m sorry for how I treated you.” 

“Derek… I’m so sorry. Even though I know that doesn’t help,” Stiles knows from the words people gave him after his mother's death that sorry doesn’t fix anything. “I don’t hold any resentment towards you. It's all forgotten.” 

“I’m glad,” the smile that Derek gives him is partially radiant, even though it's a small and private thing. At that moment Stiles allows himself to think about how he might just be a little bit in love with Derek.   

  
  


 

*******

  
  


 

Stiles goes outside for the first time in what feels like forever, on the warmest day there's been in months. The sun's out, and the sky is littered with beautiful fluffy white clouds. Stiles thinks he would probably be content watching them float by forever. 

Ms. Morrell gives them some time off, though not without mumbling insults about how their all children who get to riled up without some  _ proper outside time. _ The snow is still heavy and thick on the ground but it's warm enough outside that they aren't too worried about frostbite taking off their toes or fingers. 

They wear gloves and thick woolen socks, and Stiles wears a slightly lopsided scarf that he’s been working on. Stiles thinks that next he might start on a knit cap, it won’t be very stylish but it’ll do the job of keeping his head and ears warm. 

Erica and Isaac don’t need any winter cloths. They wear their wolves skin, which is enough to keep them warm as they run through the snow. Their not usually allowed to wear their wolves skins indoor, not without careful supervision from one of the more experienced wolves. Both of them seemed delighted with the opportunity to be free as they like through the snow. 

Newly bitten wolves are voilitale, not completely in control of their own skin. They are a lot like babies, or puppies really, not that he’d ever say that to them. Even the way they run off into the snow, rolling in it and play fighting definitely reminds Stiles of some sort of adorable baby animal. 

Stiles, Kira and Danny trudge through the snow with their arms interlocked, gossiping amongst themselves. Erica and Isaac run by every so often, lighter on their feet then when they are humans. Their mostly so entertained by their wolf forms to pay anyone else much mind, running through the thick snow with almost unimaginable amounts of energy. 

Some of the soldiers are taking advantage of the first nice day in a long time. A good amount of them are in their wolves skin, and Stiles watching as Isaac and Erica run among them. It strange to think that these burley soldiers are all running together through the snow like a bunch of young pups. 

A wolf runs up beside Danny, trotting along beside them as they walk. The wolf's coat is a mixture of grey, brown and white with a dark stripe of nearly black fur running down its back. It's not Issac or Erica’s, whose coats are both a begue and white mixture. 

Danny pats the wolves head before giving it a little scratch behind its ear. “Hello love. Are you enjoying your romp in the snow?” 

“How do you know that's Ethan?” Stiles suddenly pictures Danny scratching they ear of some random soldier in wolf form, who will suddenly turn back into a human and horrify them all. 

“He’s showed me his wolf form before,” Danny says with a high blush on his face, as though Ethan showing him his wolf form is something to be ashamed of. It's certainly not more embarrassing than hearing that Danny calls Ethan  _ love.  _

Ethan bounds away, going over to play with a couple of the other wolves. Stiles watchs as a large black wolf comes running through the snow. It comes running towards the omega’s, and they all let out noises of surprise when the wolf barrels right into Stiles. He falls onto his butt with an “oomph” as the wolf rests half on top of him. 

The wolf begins licking his face, and Stiles expression of shock falls apart into one of uncontrolled giggles. The wolf leaves slobbery marks across his entire face and Stiles finds he is unable to stop giggling. Stiles threads his fingers through the wolfs thick dark coat so he can pull its face away from his. 

There's something about the wolves eyes, and they way it seems to look at Stiles makes him stare back at it. Stiles looks down the entirely black coat of the wolf. “Are you Derek?” 

The wolf licks his face and Stiles takes that as a yes. Something about Derek in wolf form, jumping around and licking his face makes Stiles laugh hysterically. There's a seriousness to Derek that always seems to exist, but as a wolf he seems young and playful. For one of the first time in his life Stiles wishes he was a wolf too, so he could run around and play with Derek. 

Stiles stands back up as Derek seems to circle around him, jumping up and down. Stiles runs, as fast as he can with the thick snow, and is delighted when Derek chases after him. He does that for a while, laughing and running around like a child. The feeling is freeing, and eventually flops down into the snow panting slightly. 

Derek comes and flops down beside him, resting his head against Stiles chest. He curls his fingers through Derek's fur, watching as Derek's eyes slowly close. It's hard to really think that within this wolfs body is Derek’s mind. 

After a while of laying in the snow Stiles can feel his fingers and toes beginning to stiffen. Stiles sits up, knocking Derek’s head off of his chest. Derek lets out a little growl of annoyance that makes Stiles picture the way his eyebrows would furrow if Derek was in human form right now. 

“You want to come inside?” Stiles asks. It already looks like most of the wolves have headed back inside. He can still see Danny and Ethan messing around in the snow, and Kira is talking to one of the soldiers off near the treeline. 

Derek doesn’t respond to his question, but he trots along beside Stiles as they head inside. Once they are inside Derek trots away, and Stiles figures that he’s seen the last of him for today. Instead a few minutes latter Derek comes back to where Stiles is standing in the empty kitchen. He’s back in human form, wearing his usual military uniform. 

“Do you want some tea?” Stiles asks not even waiting for a response and already starting the kettle. 

“Tea sounds good,” Derek says coming deeper into the kitchen. He looks a little out of place here, and Derek’s awkwardness makes him grin. Derek come and stands by the counter. “Where can I find some cups?” 

Stiles points to one of the cabinets as he walks over and gets the tea leaves and some milk. Derek hands him two blue, slightly chipped and worn out porcelain mugs. The mugs have been used enough times that they always seem to smell like tea. If Derek wasn’t standing there watching him Stiles would lean over and stick his nose in the tea cup just to enjoy that left over smell. 

He drops a tea bag into each, adds and splash of milk before adding in the boiling water. Stiles own clumsiness always seems to come in at the worst moments. As he’s trying to set the kettle down back on the stove top his elbow collides with one of the cup which sends it shattering onto the floor. Tea and broken ceramic pieces go everywhere. 

“Oh gods above,” Stiles hisses dropping down to start gathering the broken pieces. “If I was any more clumsy I wouldn’t even be able to get my clothes on in the morning.” 

Derek gets down on the floor too, trying to help Stiles collect the pieces. Stiles is pretty sure that some of the tea got onto Derek’s shoes though he doesn’t look angry. While Derek looks out of place in the kitchen he also doesn’t treat Stiles like he’s simply a servant either. 

“Wait, stop,” Stiles says brushing Derek’s hands aside from where they’ve been collecting pieces of porcelain. Stiles thinks about the spell that he’s been practicing with Deaton, the mending spell. He’s never done it without mountain ash, but he supposes this is a good time as any to try it. 

Stile runs his fingers over the broken shards of the cup mumbling the spell. For a second nothing happens and Stiles almost removes his hands and gives up. Slowly the shards begin to vibrate, before slowly moving towards each other. The cup begin to reform from the broken pieces. 

The tea doesn’t makes it way back into the cup like Stiles had hoped, but seeing the cup reform is still better than he had expected. Stiles stands up and sets the cup back on the counter. He drops one of dish towel on the floor, and uses his foot to push around the towel and wipe up all the tea. 

“Your using you magic?” Derek says as Stiles restarts the kettle to make himself another cup of tea. 

Stiles nods. “I’ve been practicing with Dr. Deaton. It's the first time I’ve been able to do that spell without using mountain ash.” 

“Its impressive,” Derek says giving him a little smile. Stiles colors under the compliment, feeling more pleased then he probably should. He’d not ectually used to getting compliments, especially from alpha’s that he finds attractive. Suddenly though the smile from Derek’s face is gone. “Maybe you shouldn’t use your magic in public though.” 

“What?” Stiles exclaims, Derek was the one who told him that his magic was something good. That he shouldn’t listen to anyone who said otherwise. “You told me my magic was a gift and now your saying I shouldn’t use it!” 

Derek steps forward, into Stiles personal space and then further until he’s crowding him up against the counter. The last time Stiles was this close to Derek was at the bonding ceremony, when they had danced. Derek’s scent is just as incredible as he remembers, but Stiles is filled with too much anger to let it affect him. 

“Not everyone sees magic as good thing. Many see it as something terrible and evil,” Derek says in a hushed voice, quiet enough that no one would overhear. “I think there's an Argent spy in the manor.”

“Alright,” Stiles says slowly. “What does that have to do with me?” 

“If the Argent’s army gets here and learns that you are a mage they will do horrible things to you. Witchcraft is illegal there, they burn people they think are mages at the stake,” Derek tell him. 

Stiles hadn’t even considered that Derek was warning him against using his magic in order to keep him safe. Honesty he was convinced that Derek didn’t want him to use his magic because he found it disgusting or horrifying. That Derek would be trying to protect him never even crossed his mind. 

“Your trying to protect me?” Stiles voice is soft with sudden emotion. 

Derek curls his hand against Stiles face, running his finger against Stiles cheek bone. Stiles is surprised by how intimate the touch is and how good it feels when Derek moves his hand down and curls it around Stiles jaw. Derek’s hand is big and warm against his jaw and Stiles finds he can’t help but lean into it. 

Derek steps closer so it’s almost like he’s curling his body over Stiles. Even though he sees it coming, the kiss still somehow comes as a surprise. Stiles has never been kissed before, not because he hasn’t wanted to be but because no one has ever been interested. 

It's awkward at first, their mouths bumping together in a way that wasn't entirely pleasant. After a minute they seem to fall into place, becoming used to each others touch. The hand that isn’t against Stiles face curls around his waist which pulls him even closer to Derek. Stiles wraps his arms around Derek’s shoulders, gripping onto Derek’s jacket probably just a little to tightly. 

Of course Stiles has fantasies about kissing Derek before but without any real experience he had not really known what it would be like. He’s seen people kiss before and still remembers his parents kissing when his mother was still alive. He remembers his mom laughing, and his dad leaning forward like he just couldn’t help but kiss her. 

Stiles always wanted to be kissed like that person just couldn’t help it. Derek’s kiss isn’t like that but it's nice nonetheless. Better than nice really, pretty great by Stiles standards though it's not like he has much to compare it to. 

Someone clears their throat and instantly Stiles and Derek pull away from each other. Derek takes a step back and Stiles quickly wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. Ms. Morrell is standing in the doorway with a disgruntled look, arms folded over her chest. Derek takes another small step back after she gives him a terrifying glare. 

“I should be going,” Derek tells him and much to his surprise presses a quick kiss to Stiles forehead. He practically flees after that, especially when he has to pass Ms. Morrell in the doorway. Stiles covers his grin with the back of his hand. 

Ms. Morrell comes deeper into the kitchen and comes over to stand beside Stiles. “You should be careful Stiles. Just because Danny got the happy ending that he always wanted doesn’t mean that you will to.” 

Stiles frowns as Ms. Morrell walks past him into the pantry. Stiles ignores her, not wanting her to crush the triumphant light hearted feeling of just being freshly kissed by Derek. He turns his back to her and pours himself another cup of tea. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! i got to post this chapter earlier then I thought I would be because the thing i thought i had to do today got canceled. also all the comments really motivated me to get the next chapter out! this it the halfway point in this fic so i hoped you've enjoyed so far.


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

Stiles has decided that kissing is his new favorite thing. He likes doing other things too, things that are related to kissing but make him feel ever more hot and bothered. Touches and caresses that leave Stiles feeling positively light headed. 

He spends nearly all his free time with Derek now. Stiles learns bits and pieces about Derek’s past at different moments, over several conversations that they have. Derek tells Stiles all about his family's murders, after Stiles rambles on about how is mother died when he was a child and he fears his fathered dead as well. 

Derek tells him about how his two sisters joined the army. His oldest sister doing her fighting on the front lines while his younger sister is still in the training camps. Derek also tells him about how his younger brother got sent far away from the war, and how Derek goes between being uncontrollably jealous of that or being guilty for feeling such a way. 

Ever since he kisses Derek Stiles has felt hyper aware of his approaching his heat. He’s always aware of it, his heat is part of his body which means he can’t just ignore it. Usually the knowledge of his heat exists in the back of Stiles mind until it hits and he has to confront it head on. 

It's probably because it's the first time that he’s ever had someone he might actually want to spend his heat with. It's not like with Lydia, who he only lusted after from afar. He's been kissed and touched by Derek, and done some of his own kissing and touching in return. He’s whispered silly words to Derek until he couldn’t help but laugh. 

Stiles has also been spending more time upstairs then he ever has before. It's only him and Kira downstairs now, though Kira seems to disappear for long hours and when Stiles asks where she goes Kira carefully evades his questions. 

Erica and Isaac seems to have both permanently moved upstairs. Isaac even asked Ms. Morrell’s formal permission to move upstairs, which was embarrassing for everyone involved. Ms. Morrell had given Isaac her permission, though it was more of a dismissive and uninterested yes then anything else. 

Erica had a small bonding ceremony with Boyd. The ceremony had even less religion involved then Danny and Ethans. Unlike Ethan Boyd is a bitten wolf and seems to have little belief in the werewolf religion. They had a small little gathering afterwords, all together making the entire process more casual than Stiles would usually associate with weddings. Erica had seem pleased so that's all that really mattered. 

Stiles is reading a old beaten up looking novel in the library. He’s flopped across one of the couchs, a fluffy throw pillow tucked underneath his head. Derek is sitting across from him in an armchair, an array of official looking papers on his lap and some also resting on the coffee table in front of him. 

It's late and their reading by the light of only gas lamps and several candles. Their the only people left in the library, it's late enough that most people have either gone to bed or are down stairs drinking the night away. Without any active battles near them is seems that a group of the soldiers, the younger and more inexperienced ones mostly, have taken to drinking the night away and then sleeping during the day. 

Stiles curls himself deeper in the the couch cushions, and his eyes start to drift closed against his will. His eyes have already drifted shut when he feels a heavy hand against his shoulder. Stiles opens his eyes gazing up at Derek whose leaning over him. 

“You should go to bed,” Derek says taking the book out of Stiles hand, marking off the page before setting it down on the coffee table. 

Stiles curls even deeper into himself with a sleepy sigh. “I’m too tired to walk all the way downstairs.” 

“Who said anything about going all the way downstairs,” Derek smiles is small, timid and nervous. Stiles knows what Derek’s suggesting and he also knows he’s blushing just at the mere suggestion. 

He’s never been to Derek’s room before. Their meetings always took place in the bath, the library or one of the several sitting rooms within the manor. Derek’s room is something intimate and personal and Stiles is a little intimidated by the idea of entering that space. 

Derek grabs his hand and pulls Stiles up off the couch. He follows Derek to his room down the hall and into his room. The room is nicer then Stiles expected, mostly because he’s used to his own crowded room downstairs. Derek’s room is nothing like it. 

For one he has an entire room to himself, with an adjoining bathroom. There's a large bed in the center of the room which Stiles immediately flops himself down onto. He bounces slightly against the thick mattress. He smashes his face into the comforter which smells strongly and overwhelmingly of Derek. 

He watches as Derek putters around the room. He goes over to the dark wooden desk and sets down his papers. The desk is pressed up against the window, which is covered by dark red curtains. The curtains are probably the drabbest thing in the room. There's dark blue and cream wallpaper covering the walls and a thick patterned rug on the floor. The bookcase is by far the nicest pieces of furniture, the sides of it carved in the shapes of leaves and flowers and covered in thick leather bound books. 

“This room is very nice,” Stiles mumbles the words slightly muffled by the fact that his face is pressed into the comforter. 

Derek comes and stands by where Stiles head is resting against the bed and curls his fingers through Stiles hair. Stiles twist his body enough to he can look up at Derek who gives him a small smile. “Do you want to change for bed? You can borrow a nightshirt.” 

Stiles pulls himself up and slips out of the bed. Derek opens his dresser and hands Stiles a crisp white night shirt. The night shirt is going to be a little large on him. While they are almost equal in height, Derek’s whole body is much larger and broader than his. 

He takes the night shirt from Derek and goes into the bathroom to change. He slips out of his clothes, folding them up and slipping the night shirt over his head. It’s not as comfortable as one of his own, though its seems brand new and smell like nothing but cotton. He doubts that Derek’s even so much as touched it before the few seconds he held it before passing it to Stiles, let alone worn it himself. Its large enough that one shoulder hangs off and its seems to flow around his entire body. 

The bathroom has a sink, toilet and a bathtub. He washes his face quickly with the bland bar of soap kept by the sink. Stiles grins at the bathtub, gathering his clothes up in his arms and makes his way out of the bathroom. He drops his clothes on top of the dresser before crawling into bed. 

Derek’s already in bed, sitting up against the headboard with a set of pajamas on. The fabric is thin under Stiles hands as he moves closer, pressing his face up against Derek’s thigh. He’s sure he’s grinning like he’s possessed. “I see you have your own bathtub.” 

“Yes,” Derek doesn’t look away from the book in his hands, but Stiles can see the creeping blush across his face. 

“If you have your own private bathtub why were you always down stairs in the public bathhouse?” Stiles questions, his tone clearly teasing. 

Derek smiles down at him, setting his book down on the bedside table and granting Stiles his full attention. He pushes Stiles hair off of his forehead. It's the longest Stiles hair has ever been before but he’s decided that he rather likes it. “Why do you think I was always down there?” 

“I think you were trying to flirt with unsuspecting omega’s. Seduce them into your bed,” Stiles grins at Derek as he slides slowly down into the bed until he’s laying down beside Stiles. 

“If anyones been seduced its me,” Derek turns on his side so he and Stiles can look at each other. Despite the fact that the bed is large their curled up together using only about half of the bed. Their heads rest on one pillow, close enough that Stiles could easily lean over and kiss Derek. 

He gives into the impulse and does. It's a quick kiss, one that their both smiling into so their lips bump awkwardly together. It's not necessarily a very good kiss, certainly not their best, but it's nice anyways. Their feet rub together under the blanket, Stiles is wearing his large knitted socks and Derek’s feet have been left bare. Wolves tend to run hotter than humans, and they feel the cold less intensely much to Stiles irritation and jealousy. 

“It's cold tonight,” Stiles mumbles. It is cold, but saying that also gives him an excuse to cuddle closer to Derek under the guise that its for warmth only. 

“Yes,” Derek’s tone is surprisingly somber and the expression on his face grimm. Is a stark change from the slight smile that he had only minutes before. “Soon though the snow will melt and the pass through the mountains will be open. It’ll be easy for the Argent army to get here.” 

Sometimes Stiles forgets that there's a war going on. Despite the fact that the manor is crowded with soldiers, without any active battle it's easy to push the idea of war to the back of his mind. War had seemed more active in Beacon, where alpha and beta men were being enlisted every day. The war always seemed to be on the edge of invading the town. 

Derek curls his arm around Stiles side, tucking them in close together. Stiles traces the heavy set of Derek’s brow. “Do you think the Argents will attack, as soon as the snow melts over the pass?” 

“I don’t know. If their smart they’ll wait until mid summer, when the weather is better. The Argents are impatient and vindictive and I doubt they’ll be willing to wait that long,” Derek replies. 

The idea of the Argent army attacking the manor makes Stiles throat tighten up. He think back to their conversation in the kitchen, when he has broken the cup. About what the Argent soldiers would do to him if they found out that he is a mage. 

“The Argent spy, that you mentioned earlier, do you have any idea of who they could be?” Stiles asks. 

Derek expression becomes distraught and Stiles not sure if it's not just in his head but he thinks Derek pulls him closer. “I know it's not one of my wolves, the pack dynamics would never let them batray their fellow pack members that way. I thought it was one of the omega’s but now…” 

Derek trails off, gaze becoming slightly unfocused. He’s not actually surprised that Derek would suspect one of the omega’s. Many of them, like Stiles, are from border towns which would immediately make them suspect for being sympathetic towards the Argents. Being kidnapped from their homes and forced to work for the Hales would also not make them their biggest fans. 

“The Argents would never work with a werewolf anyway,” Stiles comments, rubbing his feet against Derek’s leg in what he hopes is a comforting gesture.  

“If the Argent army comes here I’ll send you away,” Derek says curling his hand against Stiles jaw. “I’ll send you to the capital where you’ll be safe. I’ll protect you.” 

At Derek’s words he leans forward and gives Stiles an open mouthed kiss. It's sloppy and wet as Stiles hovers slightly over Derek so they can kiss more comfortably. Their bodies are pressed together from feet to head, both of their rising arousal evident. 

Its Derek who pulls back first, pressing on last kiss to Stiles forehead before tucking Stiles into his side. Stiles curls up even closer, enjoying the warmth of Derek’s body. 

  
  


 

***

  
  


 

“What would you think about starting a garden?” Isaac asks. 

Their walking around the manor, arm in arm. The snow is entirely melted and beside the chilling breeze the weather could be considered altogether pleasant. While winter had seemed long and painful summer now seems fast approaching. 

“A garden would be nice,” Stiles says absentmindedly, looking up at the manor rising up next to them. 

“Then we wouldn’t have to use all those old dried spices,” Isaac says wrinkled his nose. He’s become a bit of a cooking snob over the last few months. Always searching out for the best ingredients they have or a new recipe to explore. 

Back in Beacon they had a garden. It had fallen apart after his mom died, she’d been the one who’d put all the love and care into keeping it running. She’d always said it was nice to have fresh urbs and it was always a simple way to save money. Stiles always planned ever spring to restart it but when spring actually came it never seemed to happen. 

Stiles can remember his mom spending all day outside tending to her garden. “Gardens take time. What happens when we get to go back home, is it really worth it?” 

A garden planted in spring would mean that some of the results wouldn’t even be seen until late summer at the earliest. For all they know the war could be over by then. Or the war could have reached the manor and Derek would have sent them away to the capitol like he told Stiles he’d do if the Argents ever reached them. 

Isaac bites his lip, something Stiles has come to recognize as a nervous tick of his. “I don’t actually have a home to go back to, and who knows when the war will end anyways. Jackson said that even once the war ends they’re probably going to leave a group stationed up here.” 

Stiles turns to look out over the field that slowly becomes a forest that surround the manor. “I need to go back to Beacon. I should- I mean aleast I should want to return to Beacon, shouldn’t I?” 

A few months ago he wouldn’t have even thought twice about it. Of course he would return to Beacon. Beacon for him was synonymous with the word home, and one doesn’t doesn’t just abandon their home. Now though Stiles surprised by the pull he feels towards the manor. Now when he thinks of home the manor seems to fit into that too. 

“Its okay to want to stay here,” Isaac says in a soft voice like he’s talking to a skittish animal, which Stiles sort of is. 

“I was thinking of asking Derek to spend my heat with me,” Stiles blurts out only to find more words tumbling out of his mouth. “I know if I ask him Derek will ask me to bond with him. He’s sort of uptight about those things. And if he asked me I don’t think I would be able to say no to him.” 

Isaac immediately stops where their walking, turning to Stiles with a wide smile. He pulls Stiles into a tight hug. “Bonding! That's so exciting! Aren't you excited?” His brow is furrowed now as he looks at Stiles. “Are you in love with him?” 

“How would I know if I’m in love with him?” Stiles has never been in love before. He thought he was in love with Lydia, though now he knows it was nothing more than lust. Realising that has only made him more confused about what being in love really feels like. 

The grin that Isaac wears seems to make his whole face light up. “Being in love is like a warm feeling deep in your chest. Or at least that's what I think being in love feels like.” 

This Isaac is much different than the timid boy Stiles first got to know months ago. Back then he didn’t even think that Isaac knew how to smile. He always seemed like he was just one step away from caving in on himself. Now he’s like an entirely new person, in love and everything. 

Stiles lets out a little laugh. “I can’t believe your in love with Jackson. I always thought he was so rude and obnoxious.” 

“He definitely can be rude, but he also tell me I’m smart and funny which no one has ever told me before,” Isaac says with a small smile and a shrug of his shoulders. “He doesn’t care that I don’t have any family, because he doesn't have any family either.” 

Just talking about Jackson makes Isaac wear a love sick look on his face. Stiles might not be able to understand it but he’s happy for Isaac nonetheless. If anyone deserves to be in love, and loved in return, it's definitely Isaac. 

“I guess the next bonding ceremony will be yours,” Stiles says voice light and teasing and poking Isaac playfully in the side. 

“Maybe. Or it might be yours,” Isaac says with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows. 

Stiles turns away from Isaac wide smile. “I don’t - I’m not sure about that.” 

“I know you want to get home, and there's nothing wrong with that,” Isaac says slowly. “But is waiting around and wishing for something that might never even happen, instead of doing something that you know would make you happy, is that really worth it?” 

For a while now Stiles been trying to come to terms with what it might be like if he didn’t ever goes home. He’s come to actually like being at the manor, even more so since his relationship with Derek started. Stiles isn’t even sure he would have anything to go back home to. 

He sent Mrs. McCall a letter months ago, when Jackson first said they could. He’s sent her one other since then but he’s never gotten a response. He hopes it means that she got the letters and just isn’t able to write back. He knows it's more likely that his letters never even reached her. 

“When did you become so wise?” Stiles asks trying to muster up a smile. 

“I’ve always been this wise,” Isaac gives Stiles a little smirk. “You should go ask Derek right now to spend your heat together, while you still have the nerve.” 

Stiles bites his lip. “I don’t know, he’s probably busy right now.” 

“You won’t know unless you try,” Isaac says with an eye roll. He starts pushing Stiles towards the kitchen entrance, and when that doesn’t work he hooks their arms together and drags Stiles the rest of the way. Isaac basically forces Stiles to walk up the stairs, watching from the bottom to make sure he doesn't back down. 

He knows that usually during the day Derek’s in meetings, probably about war strategy or something though they don’t really ever talk about. When he’s not doing that then he knows that Derek’s usually outside training soldiers, or getting in some practice exercises of his own. 

Stiles check the library first. He knows thats one the places that Derek likes to spend his free time, mostly because usually he’s spending that time with Stiles. There's a few soldiers milling around the library, but none of them are Derek. 

Next he heads for Derek's bedroom. Stiles hovers outside the door, trying to decide in between knocking and just barging in. For a brief second Stiles almost considers abandoning it all together, rushing back downstairs even if it means Isaac is going to tease him mercilessly over it. 

With a sudden burst of confidence as Stiles opens Derek’s door. A large part of him thought the room would be empty so he’s slightly started when Derek turns to look at him from where he’s sitting in front of his writing desk. Derek gives him a raised eyebrow. “Stiles, what are you doing here?” 

Stiles comes deeper into the room and shuts the door behind him. He walks over and comes over to where Derek is sitting, leaning his hip against the desk. “I wanted to ask you something.” 

“Alright, go ahead,” Derek sets the quill he was using to write back into the ink pot. He scoots his chair back from the desk and stretch his legs out in front of him. In the back of his mind Stiles wonders if its hard for a wolf to be cooped up all day. 

“I was wondering if you would like to spend my heat with me?” Stiles bites his lip in an attempt to keep himself from babbling with nerves. 

“I would be honoured to spend your heat together,” Derek's says taking one of Stiles hands in his. “I would like for use to bond first, or atleast get engaged.”

Stiles fidles with Derek’s hand in his, feeling nervous even though he expected Derek to say something like that. “I would very much like to bond with you.” 

Derek gives him probably the largest smile he's ever seen on his face before. He pulls Stiles away from where he’s been leaning against the desk and into his lap. It's awkward, with Stiles resting sideways in Derek’s lap and leaning against Derek’s front. Derek pulls him into a heated kiss as Stiles wraps his arms around Derek’s shoulders. 

Their foreheads are pressed together, grinning like their little kids. There's a heavy happy feeling in his chest that makes it feel like something is bubbling up within him. Stiles finds he can’t help but laugh, it comes from deep inside, He finds that he’s unable to stop it not that he wants to. 

“When is your heat going to be here?” Derek asks after a long series of intense kisses. 

“Probably in a few days,” Stiles murmurs after pressing a quick kiss to Derek’s lips. “Maybe even sooner cause of all the time we’ve spent together.” 

Derek makes a low sound of consideration. “We should probably wait until after your heat for the bonding ceremony. We can have it the day of the full moon, its thought to bring good luck.” 

Stiles thinks this is the happiest he’s ever seen Derek look. Derek, who usually has a perpetual frown looks like he might never stop smiling. Stiles thinks its a good look on him. It makes him look younger and like he doesn’t have a heavy weight resting on his shoulders at all times. Stiles finds he can’t help but kiss that smile, even if it means their teeth bump awkwardly together. 

There's a warm hand pressed against the side of Stiles face and a thumb running against his cheek bone. “I have something that I need to tell you.” 

“Are you about to tell me that you already have a secret wife or a horde of illegitimate children,” Stiles say with a laugh. 

Derek’s smile begins to fade and his expression takes on a more serious note. The furrow of his brows hasn’t happened yet but Stiles can see it coming. Derek squeezes his hand, and Stiles can’t tell if he’s trying to reassure Stiles before telling him bad news or trying to stop him from jumping to conclusions. 

“My real name is Theoderik Hale.” 

For a second Stiles entire body seems to freeze. His mind feels like it's moving too fast to be able to worry about moving his muscles. It feels like he’s swallowed a pound of rocks that are sitting now heavy and oppressive in his stomach. If he had just eaten Stiles thinks that he might have thrown up. 

“You mean that your the prince?” Stiles blubbers out stumbling his way out of Derek’s lap. He uses the desk to support himself, so he doesn’t stumble down in his shock. Stiles knows that his hands are shaking. 

“Yes,” Derek says softly with the kind of tone someone might use with a spooked horse. “That doesn’t have to change anything. This doesn’t change how we feel about each other. We can still bond.” 

There's a pleading and panicked tone in Derek’s voice. He reaches forward towards Stiles and then seems to aborts the motion and curl back in on himself. Derek looks like he’s deflating in on himself. 

“Of course this changes everything,” Stiles responds his voice rising with each word. “Your a prince and I’m nobody. You can’t bond with me.” 

“After my engagement with Kate Argent ended,” Derek doesn’t need to add any more of an explanation because everyone knows about Kate and Derek. “My sister Laura promised me that I could marry whoever I want. You’re who I want.” 

“I can’t imagine I’m the person the  _ Queen _ pictured you marring. Some nobody mage with northern blood. You can’t convince me that we can bond without you facing any consequences.” 

Derek sighs, looking down at his lap. There's a stubborn set to his jaw like he’s expecting Stiles to put up some sort of violent fight or a all out distarious argument. Stiles would prefer for neither of those things to happen. 

After a weighted bit of silence Derek says. “Your right there is consequences. When I made this deal with Laura I agreed that if something were to happen to her, and she had produced no heirs that Cora and my brother Matthew and any children they have would be in line for the throne before me.” 

“You gave up your chance to be king?” the words seem nearly incomprehensible to Stiles and even feel strange and sticky on his tongue. 

“I’ve never desired to be king,” Derek's says solemnly. “I made that deal for love and I am in love with you.” 

It's the first time that Derek has ever said the word love to him. There's a light headed feeling that accompanies hearing those words for first time. It's the first time someone ever told Stiles that they are in love with him. 

“I need some time to think,” Stiles blurts out, to overwhelmed by everything to really use his brain. “I’ll come by tonight and we’ll talk.” 

Derek nods, clearly understanding that there's no point trying to change Stiles mind right now or rush him. Stiles leaves Derek room in a daze, somehow making his way back down to the kitchen. Stiles sees the concerned look that Isaac gives him, but he ignores any attempt at conversation. 

While working on dinner his mind is somewhere else the entire time. He’s surprised that he doesn't slice off a finger or burn his hand. He thinks that Ms. Morrell notices that he’s distracted, probably blaming it on his approaching heat. She gives him small and easy tasks to do the entire night. 

Stiles is absorbed in his own thoughts. Sitting in between Erica and Danny during dinner he doesn’t hear a word that either of them say. He feels like he’s in an entirely different world than everyone else around him.

He’s surprised that Derek isn’t more afraid by the prospect of marriage. It was his proposed engagement to Kate Argent which had started the entire war. That sort of trauma could easily destroy someone for the rest of their life. 

It had been years ago when Stiles has first heard news about the possible engagement between the Hale’s oldest son and Kate Argent. Stiles mother had recently passed, and gossip about the royal family served as a perfect distraction for him. He had loved reading about it in those flimsy gossip magazines from the capital. 

There had always been tensions between the Hales and the Argents. The Argents believe in human supremacy, and that everything supernatural is inherently evil. They two kingdoms always seemed to be on the brink of war or conflict. The possible marriage between Kate and Derek was suppose to a way to bridge the gap between the two kingdoms. 

The Argent family had come to Triskele in order to formalize the engagement. Of course they never got to that. Queen Talia, her husband, the dowager queen and other members of the Hale family were poisoned and killed. The young princess Laura blamed the murders on the Argents and declared war. 

Stiles thinks that if someone murdered most of his family he would want to start a war too. After his mother died, even though it was her own body that killed her, part of him wanted to find something to fight. When the Argents drafted his father he certainly didn’t have many good feelings towards them. 

After a dessert of oranges he heads upstairs. He’s thought about lots of thing, but in the end he realised that even with this new information his feelings towards Derek haven’t changed one bit. He still feels something close to love, or maybe even love all the way, towards Derek. 

He rushes up the stairs towards Derek’s room. The realisation that he’s made him mind up has put him at ease. He feels lighter than he has for the last several hours, and Stiles is pretty sure that there's an uncontrollable and wide smile on his face. 

Stiles doesn’t even bother to knock on Derek’s door, simply barges into the room. Derek is at his little desk, just like he was hours ago. Part of him wonders if Derek has been there since they last talked, though he’s sure that he’s went downstairs for dinner at some point. 

There's a hard set to Derek jaw, and a look of pure determination. There's also fear in his eyes he’s just waiting for rejection. It's that look which makes the words coming bubbling out of Stiles mouth. “I still want to bond with you.” 

A slow smile forms on Derek’s face and Stiles feels like he’s being pulled towards Derek by some invisible force. He walks forward into Derek’s arms. He stands between Derek’s open legs, pressing his hands against Derek’s shoulders. Stiles presses a quick kiss to Derek’s lips, or maybe not so quick.

 

 

***

  
  


 

Stiles stretch out into the bed, pressing his feet into the mattress as he does so. Stiles rubs his face against the pillow letting out a little huff of annoyance at being awake. It's hot under the blankets and comforter and Stiles shifts around in an attempt throw them off. 

He opens one eye slowly, and then the other. The room still mostly dark with a little light sneaking in from under the curtains. It makes the whole room dusty and dark, outlining everything it in a soft glow. Derek looks like nothing more then a dark lump next to him. 

Stiles reaches out and pokes Derek in the side, rousing him from sleep. Derek gives him a half awake look at he turns onto his side. Stiles moves forward to he can press himself closer to Derek's front. 

“My heats here,” Stiles mumbles voice scratchy from sleep. 

Derek looks more awake now and he reaches towards Stiles, running a hand down his side. “Are you feeling alright?” 

“Can I have some water?” Stiles asking sitting up slightly against the headboard. His voice is still scratchy and it hurts a little bit when he talks. Derek reaches behind him and passes Stiles a glass of water that was on his night stand. 

Stiles chugs down the water, spilling it little bit down the front of his nightshirt. Once the glass is empty he hands it back over to Derek while snuggling back down into bed. He also snuggles closer to Derek’s side, craving the feeling of the alpha’s touch. 

Derek seems to have no problem trying to satisfy Stiles cravings. He curls himself over Stiles body, pressing hot kisses into his neck and jaw. There's an horrible tiredness deep in Stiles bones, a tiredness that always accompanies his heat. It makes him more than happy to let Derek do most of the work. 

Their kisses are slow, sleepy and soft like old honey dripping out of a jar. Derek’s hands are moving slowly down his body, bunching up the nightshirt around Stiles hips. In turn Stiles throws his arms over Derek’s shoulders, scratching his fingers lightly down Derek’s back. Stiles is already wet, surly soaking through the nightshirt which is still tucked under his ass. 

He’s hot with Derek resting over him and the covers still resting around them. The night shirt feels much too restricting. He sits up slightly and moving out of Derek’s grip, pulling his nightshirt up and over his head. Its freeing, to feel the cool air against his skin and then Derek’s warm body pressed up against his bare one. 

They’ve been naked in front of each other before. All those nights in the bath, when they’d turn away and pretend like their not looking at each other. After that when they were allowed to look and they’d watch each other with flushed cheeks and dazed expressions. Last night before bed when Derek had wrapped his hands around both their cocks as they curled up in bed together. 

Derek’s still naked from the night before and the press of skin against skin does nothing to lower Stiles arousal. Their both hard, rubbing against each other without any plan or urgency. Stiles lets out little whines as Derek kisses a path down Stiles chest. Derek presses a finger into Stiles, slowly and with a level of caution that doesn’t seem necessary. 

“Come on, come on,” Stiles urges and Derek complies. He adds another finger and seems to happily follow Stiles urgings. 

Stiles feels hot all over knowing that Derek’s knots the only thing that going to make him feel better. He tries to urge Derek closer, pressing the heels of his feet into the lowest spot of Derek’s back. He always craves a knot during his heat but with Derek here with him the need almost seems overwhelming. 

“Come on Derek, fuck me,” Stiles demands giving Derek an open mouthed kiss. 

Derek gives him a small smile. “Who knew that you would have such as dirty mouth.” 

“I’ll show you a dirty mouth,” Stiles says slightly non sensioscially while biting at Derek’s earlobe. 

Derek has four fingers in him, stretching him out slowly. Stiles pushes Derek’s hand out of him, urging Derek’s cock closer to him. While Derek seems to want to take it slow Stiles is filled with urgency, searching desperately for that satiated feeling that he knows will accompany a knot. Stiles allows his purley biological urges to take over. 

Stiles cries out when Derek starts easing his cock in. He’s overwhelmed, not just by the new sensations about also by the overwhelming feeling of skin against skin. Stiles is sure he’s leaving scratches down Derek’s back which quickly healing because of his werewolf blood. 

They are both already so turned on, more intensely than they usually would be without the scent of pheromones flooding the room. It's why after only a few thrust Stiles can already feel Derek’s knot forming, stretching him wide open. 

“Bite me,” Stiles hisses as Derek’s knot continues to grow in him. His thrusts are growing slightly uneven, the knot making it more difficult. There's still the same roughness, which Stiles hadn't even realised that was something he would crave but finds himself enjoying nonetheless. During heats he comes to realise he enjoys a slightly more bruising touch. 

The request to be bitten seems to fall on deaf ears. Stiles grabs Derek’s hair, tugging his face from where he’s been leaving kisses against Stiles neck and shoulder. The kisses are nice, but he craves the feeling of teeth against his skin. The expression on Derek’s face is a dazed one, and his pupils are blown wide and his eyes slightly unfocused. 

Danny had told that's what happens to alpha’s during an omegas heat. A knot sharpens an omega focus during heat, makes them come back to their normal selves. On the other hand alpha’s seem to lose their mind and revert back to their most base nature. All they want to do is fuck and knot until they can’t do it anymore. 

Stiles stares directly into Derek’s eyes. “I told you that I want you to bite me.” 

Derek seems to come a little back into himself, though his hips seem to be moving like they have a mind of their own. Derek gives him a serious look, eyebrows slightly furrowed and mouth set into a frown. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes, do it!” Stiles demands pulling Derek down into a heated kiss. 

Bites are old fashion, and most omega’s don’t get them anymore. Stiles yearns for it, the feeling of teeth in his neck and the mark it will leave afterwards. It won’t turn him, not unless Derek suddenly wolves out and bites him with his wolf teeth instead. Its something only humans talk about happening because any wolf knows that have far too much control to let that happen. 

The bite is something almost like magic and Stiles thinks its his own magic that calls to it and yearns for it. The bite is some sort of old magic, not something that can be written down and explained in one of Dr. Deaton’s spell books. 

Derek leans down and rests his teeth against the curve where neck meets shoulder. Even though Stiles asked for its still a surprise when teeth sink into him. It hurts but it’s also accompanied by a rush of adrenaline and arousal. Stiles didn’t expect being bitten to be the thing that makes him cum. 

Stiles cries out as he cums, and feels Derek cum in him as well. He feels dazed, breathing hard and red faced with exertion. Derek kicks the covers that have still been resting over them towards the end of the bed. He helps pull them onto their sides, so Stiles doesn’t have to feel the full weight of Derek on top of him. 

“Are you okay?” Derek asks after a while once they both are no longer breathing so hard. “I wasn’t to rough was I?” 

“I liked how it was rough,” Stiles replied sheepishly. 

He wants to find bruise marks on his hips after this is done, fingershapped and faintly purple. Stiles wants the red bite mark that everyone can see and know that it was Derek who sank his teeth into Stiles body. He wants to be left open and gaping once Derek’s knot goes down. 

Stiles reaches up and runs his fingers along the bite mark. A little blood comes up on his fingers, coating them red. He resist the strange urge to suck the blood off the them, hoping that his brain is functioning poorly due to fantastic sex. 

“Does it hurt?” Derek asks moving forward to touch the bite himself. He looks horrified by it, touching it gently like he’s afraid that Stiles skin might simply disintegrate underneath his fingers. 

“A little bit,” Stiles mumbles, it is a bite after all of course it has to hurt a little bit. 

Derek reaches over and presses his open hand on Stiles shoulder, right next to where the bite rests. The pain becomes a dull throb before slowly starting to fade all the way until it's barley more than a hum under his skin. Stiles watchs the dark viens wind their way up Derek’s arm and into his chest. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Stiles says, rejusting his position slightly from where they curled up around each other. It's a little uncomfortable, Stiles legs are thrown wide over Derek’s and he’s still being stretched wide over a knot. 

Derek’s nuzzles into Stiles hair, a move that seems completely wolf. Derek peppers the top of his head and forehead with kisses. “I don’t want you to be in pain.” 

Stiles still feels warm but the more uncontrollable heat has faded away. Stiles feels his eyes growing heavy, curling himself even more against Derek’s front. Derek reaches forward and helps fluff the pillow underneath Stiles head, pulling him close like he’s tucking him into bed. 

“I’m getting sleepy,” Stiles mumbles, trying to open up his eyes but failing miserably. 

“Got to sleep,” Derek curls fingers through Stiles hair in a soothing motion. “Just go on to sleep.” 

Stiles shifts up slightly, so he can press a kiss to the corner of Derek’s mouth. Derek gives him a soft smile, his eyes also falling closed. Stiles moves forward, pressing his forehead against Derek’s body and lets his eyes drift closed. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to everyone who left comments and kudos!! this chapter feels a little shorter then the other chapter (i don't know maybe thats just me) but the last three chapters of these fic are pretty long so be ready for that! hope you enjoyed, chapter six will be posted tomorrow some time in the afternoon.


	6. Chapter 6

 

The spring sun on Stiles skin is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. Stiles finds himself spinning around like a child, giggling with joy. He wants to sit in the fields surrounding the manor all day and make daisy chains and breath in the wonderful smell of blooming flowers. 

He and Isaac are inspecting the area were they plan on starting the garden. They’ve decided on an area on the backside of the manor, where the morning sun shines bright but its shaded in the afternoon. They’ve started leveling out some of the dirt, trying to get things planted before summer fully arrives. 

Stiles reaches up and touches the completely healed bite mark. The imprint is still there, the bite mark will always be there. Stiles come to realise the he unconsciously reaches up and pets it all the time, running his fingers over the grooves and lines of his skin. 

“We should probably head inside,” Stiles says, watching the mostly faded sun. They dug up a large section of the grass, and Jackson apparently promised that the next supply run they will have seeds brought back for them to use. 

Stiles doesn’t really know what he’s doing, it's not like he has any experience with gardening. Isaac seems to know what he’s doing though and Stiles is happy to follow his directions. Erica had been out earlier helping them, but she started complaining about her complection and the sun so she’d gone back inside. 

He can’t decide if he likes gardening or working in the kitchen more. Stiles has always loved cooking, he liked making healthy and original meals for his dad. Being barked at by Ms. Morrell and cooking an abundance of boring dishes has made him practically despise cooking. Atleast with gardening its something new that he can use to occupy his mind. 

They start heading back towards the kitchen, which is around the other side of the manor. Their both a little pink from the sun, but it's nice after being trapped inside for so many months. Stiles wants to bask in the sun despite the fact that it's going to leave him all red and freckly. 

“If I tell you a secret, you have to promise that you won’t tell anyone,” Isaac says as they wade their way through the tall grass on the northern side of the manor. 

“Of course,” Stiles replies. He has a loud mouth, one that is always getting him into trouble but he also desperately want to know whatever secret Isaac has. The curiosity would drive him completely crazy otherwise. 

Isaac quiet for a minute and Stiles plucks a dandelion and blows on it. Only after does he realise he forgot to make a wish. Stiles doesn’t know of any magic behind dandelion wish making but he thinks hoping that Ms. Morrell has them make more of those sugar cookies is a reasonable one. 

“I think...” Isaac trails off and gives him a unsure look. “I think that I might be pregnant.” 

“Really! That's exciting!” Stiles says until he notices that Isaac still looks completely nervous almost even boarding on terrified. “This is an exciting thing, right?” 

Isaac bites his lip. “I mean of course I’m excited. I don’t know anything about taking care of a baby, shouldn’t I need some practice before I can just have one. Jackson and I haven’t even bonded yet, I don’t even know if he wants to bond.” 

“Do you like kids?” Stiles asks. 

Stiles loves kids, definitely wouldn't mind having a half dozen of them. He thinks kids are hilarious and loves squishy baby cheeks and legs. It also doesn’t help that Stiles is easily entertained by jokes about farts and other kinds of bodily functions. 

He knows that most people think that all omega’s are born loving kids. That all an omega wants to do it get pregnant and have as many babies as they possibly can. Of course that’s not true and there's plenty of omega’s who don't have a child loving bone in their entire body. Some omega’s are even disgusted by the mere idea of children. 

“I think I like children, I don’t have much experience with them,” Isaac replies. “Do you think that Jackson likes kids?” 

“Honestly I didn’t think that Jackson really likes much of anything. Jackson seems to like you though, so I guess that means that he would like any babies you two have together,” Stiles says with a smile. Jackson certainly loves himself enough, Stiles figures that he would love anything that's half of him. 

“I’m being silly, I don’t even know if I’m pregnant or not,” Isaac responds as they come upon the kitchen door. 

They head inside the manor, grabbing their aprons from the hooks by the door. Stiles still has a stain on his apron from breakfast, some old leftover flour that he tries to rub off. His mother had an red checkered apron because she said it didn’t show stains unlike these silly white ones. 

“In one of my books there's a spell that can be use to tell if your pregnant or not. I bet I can learn it and then we can try it out,” the spell didn’t look to complicated, not if Stiles puts in a little bit of practice and uses a good amount of mountain ash. 

He had told Isaac, Danny and Kira about his magic a few weeks ago. Erica had already known, he told her about it right after he found out. It seemed weird to keep it secret from them, especially after seeing how positive Derek and Erica’s reaction had been. Stiles had still be surprised when their reaction was practically nothing, simply nodding like they had already known. 

“How long do you think it will take to learn?” Isaac asks in a hushed voice as they go into the kitchen. 

Stiles shrugs, taking the bowl of partially needed dough that Ms. Morrell shoves into his hands. She gives Isaac a knife and waves as the half filled bowl of cut potatoes. Stiles says. “I think I could probably learn it in a few days, maybe longer.” 

Isaac goes across the room to get started on the potatoes. Honestly Stiles would be surprised if Isaac’s pregnant. He and Jackson haven’t gone through a heat together, and for male omega’s the majority of pregnancies are from heat sex. Bonding is also supposed to trigger fertility and Isaac hasn’t bonded yet. 

Stiles heat was a few weeks ago and there hasn’t been any sign of pregnancy. No morning sickness, extra hunger or aversion to certain smells or foods. He doesn’t think it would be the worst thing in the world to be pregnant, not that he thinks he is. Stiles just wouldn’t be devastated by that news. 

It's not like omega’s get pregnant during every single heat. All that heat does is raise the fertility rate of an omega, not guarantee pregnancy. Lots of omega’s get pregnant outside of heat as well. 

Once dinner is done he heads upstairs to eat it with Derek in their room. Its funny how in such a short amount of time it’s become  _ their _ room. All of his stuff has migrated up there, filling the dresser with the few pieces of clothing that Stiles has. His banyan is permanently draped over the armchair and his magic books on the bed side table. 

Dinner is chicken, mashed potatoes and peas. Stiles would be happy to never eat peas again but Ms. Morrell seems intent on making them eat peas as much as humanly possible. He has to coat them in mashed potatoes to just to swallow them down. 

Stiles sets down a plate in front of Derek where he’s still sitting at his little desk. Usually if they eat in their room they do it in the two comfortable and well stuffed armchairs, never scrunched over the tiny little desk like Derek is now. 

“What are you looking at?” Stiles asks, not so discreetly peering over Derek’s shoulder to see what he’s doing. There's papers spread across his desk, and a stack of them sitting in a messy pile. 

Derek turns around and rubs the bridge of his nose. “I’ve just received a letter from Laura. Apparently one of the southern princesses has been missing for a while. There was informal marriage agreement between her and my sister Cora and the southerners are blaming the Argents. Saying it's some sort of plot against my family. There's talk of them declaring war on the Argents.” 

“What does is mean if the southerners join the war?” Stiles doesn’t know anything about war strategy besides the fact that he wishes all this fighting would stop. 

“Any talk about end the war will be over, the southerns won’t stop fighting until the Argents return their daughter. Their armies are strong, and larger than ours,” Derek says with a sigh. 

Stiles knows that Derek wants the war to end. There's a guilt within Derek, for more then one reason. He knows that Derek feels responsible for starting the war, simply because he was the one that was going to be engaged to Kate Argent. Stiles knows in another sense that Derek feels guilty for his parents and families deaths. 

If the war ends than Stiles might be able to see Scott and his father again. Every day the war goes on its a higher chance that he’ll never see either of them again, that he might never even know what happened to them. It also means that one day the Argents might attack the manor, and Derek could die and Stiles would be left alone all over again. 

“For some reason Laura thinks that the princess might have come this way, some reports she heard said someone resembling this princess was spotted several months ago in northern Triskele,” Derek reponds. 

Stiles thinks back when he was first taken by the southerners and brought to the manor. There was lots of southerners in that group, including just in the omega group. He’s not sure where the other groups went once Stiles group was broken off to head towards the manor, but he wouldn’t be surprised if they continued even further north. 

“The princess, is she an omega?” Stiles ask. He’s pretty sure that Derek’s sister, Cora is an alpha and if the southern princess is an omega it would make sense for there to be a informal engagement between them. 

“Yes and she should be about your age,” Derek says. “I met her years ago but she was practically a baby then. I wouldn’t be able to pick her out of a crowd.” 

Sometimes Stiles tries to imagine what Derek is like when he’s being a prince, wearing fancy clothes with a crown on his head. He tries to imagine Derek socializing with queens and kings though Stiles finds he can’t really imagine it. Stiles leans against the desk thinking. “Do you think it's actually possible that the princess is here?” 

“Why wouldn’t she have shown herself already? We are an ally of the south wouldn’t she trust us to help her?” Derek questions, eyebrows furrowed in a way that makes Stiles want to run his fingers over them. 

Stiles raises a single eyebrow at Derek. “I don’t really think your one to talk about hidden royaltys parading as just a regular person for their safety.” 

Derek's eyebrow furrows more but the corner of his mouth turns up a little bit in that small like smile that Stiles adores. Stiles loves teasing him about being a prince, mostly because its painfully easy and though Derek would never admit it but Stiles knows that he finds those jokes funny. 

“Come on and eat your food, I have some very  _ princely _ things I want to do to you in bed tonight,” Stiles says throwing Derek a mischievous smile. He’s not entirely sure of what he just said means, but he likes how dirty but silly it sounds. 

Derek seems to also like how it sounds if the extremely dirty kiss that he gives Stiles is any indication. 

  
  


 

***

  
  


 

Stiles wakes up to the sound of banging on the door. He rolls over, trying to press himself against Derek’s side only to realise that Derek’s already sitting up in bed. He opens his eyes, feeling groggy and a little bit hazy. 

He finds that Derek’s already slipping out of bed, pulling on his trousers and a shirt. Stiles sits up, snagging his banyan from were its draped over the end of the bed. Stiles grabs the blankets and pulls them up around his chest watching Derek go to answer the door. 

Stiles can see two soldiers talking with Derek in the doorway, their voices are to low for Stiles to hear what he’s saying despite the fact that he tries with all his might to listen in. Derek closes the door half way behind him so Stiles can’t even see who the soldiers were, or make a feeble attempt to read their lips. 

After a minute Derek comes back into the room, grabbing his jacket from where it’s slumped across the chair left from last night. Derek tosses him some trousers. “Here, come on get dressed.” 

Stiles slips out of bed, grabbing the trousers from Derek’s outstretched hand. He moves around the room, grabbing a clean tunic from the dresser and slipping into his shoes. “Whats going on?” 

“They’ve spotted two riders heading here, wearing the Argent colors,” Derek says helping Stiles pull on his coat. It's the middle of the night, and as they head out into the hallway Stiles notices that all the gas lights have been lit casting everything in a yellow glow. 

“What do you think they're doing here for?” Stiles asks as he follows Derek down the hallway. 

“I don’t know,” Derek replies, letting the  _ but I plan on finding out _ go unsaid. They head up, through staircases until they get to a final winding circle staircase that Stiles has never even seen, let alone been on. It was hidden behind a discrete wooden door that even in his more curious moods he’d never be interested in looking behind it. 

It feels like they’ve been walking for ages and despite being shocked awake Stiles still feels only half conscious. When the circle staircase finally ends it leads to a little drab looking room. There's windows covering almost every wall, a group of soldiers gathered in front of one with more then one of them holding small binoculars. 

Derek comes to stand beside Boyd who passes the binoculars over to Derek. Stiles stands off to the side of the room, feeling like he’s intruding on some private meeting. For the first time he wishes to be in his little shared bedroom near the kitchen, feeling safe and comfortable. Not standing up here feeling lost.

“They look to be heading straight for the manor,” one of the soldiers says, turning to look at Derek from where they’ve be intensely looking out the window. 

“It only means that they know the manor is occupied, for all we know they could think this is an Argent stronghold,” Boyd replies as Derek passes him the binoculars. 

There's no Hale flag flying over the manor, though the commanders of the Argent army probably know its a Hale stronghold. Stiles wouldn’t even be surprised if they’d heard the rumour about the prince being here. It's likely the two riders are deserters, with no formal knowledge of where Argent territory ends and Hale territory begins. For all they know they’ve stumbled upon the manor of a random lord or lady. 

“Stiles,” Derek snaps turning around to look Stiles who startles so much he nearly jumps. “Can you go downstairs and tell Ms. Morrell to get started on breakfast, I doubt anyone going to be sleeping.” 

Stiles nods, scampering down the stairs. It feels like it takes forever to get down to the kitchen and he’s out of breath by the time he gets down there. Everyone's already gathered in the kitchen, sitting around the table looking anxious when he walks into the room. 

Everyone turns to look at him as he bursts into the room, it takes him a minute to calm his breath before he can begin to speak. “Ms. Morrell, the soldiers want us to get started on breakfast.” 

Before Ms. Morrell can reply and start giving them orders for breakfast Erica’s interrupts. “Who care about breakfast! What's going on up there? Is it true that there's two dozen people riding towards the manor right now?” 

“There's only two riders, not a small army,” Stiles replies, tying his apron around his waist. “Their probably just two deserters.” 

They hear yelling coming from outside and immediately they all rush to the kitchen entrance into the manor. Despite the cold, and the potential danger, they open the door and crowd around the entrance. Ms. Morrell is yelling at them, telling them to get to work on breakfast, but the all ignore her. 

A group of soldiers ride out from the manor, approaching the two riders. They’re in the meadow surrounding the manor, which gives them a clear view of everything that happening from the kitchen doorway. Stiles expects some sort of clash between the two groups but instead the hover in front of each other. 

From where Stiles is standing he gets a better look of the two riders. They don’t appear to have any bags with them, which means they weren’t planning for a long journey or at least didn’t want to appear like they were. One looks to be male and another female, and from how far away he is it's impossible to tell dynamics though if they truly soldiers then their not omega’s. 

Stiles stares at the male rider. He would recognize that floppy hair anywhere, the silhouette they cast in the dark and their mannerisms. Stiles finds himself racing across the field before he even realises it, someone is shouting his name but Stiles keeps running, do focused to really hear it. 

“Scott!” Stiles cries out as he approached the group. He’s sure he looks crazy, running through the field in the dark, not wearing a thick enough coat and yelling like he’s possessed. 

He sees Scott turn to look at him when he hears Stiles voice. Scott gives him a squinty look, leaning forward over his horse like he’s trying to get a better look at him. Eventually he slips off of the horse, walking several steps towards Stiles before one of the soldiers barks an order at him. 

“Stiles is that you?” Scott asks voice raises as Stiles takes the finial leaps towards him, coming to stand before Scott. “Gods above what are you doing here? Why aren't you in Beacon?” 

He can’t help but throw himself towards Scott, pulling him into a tight hug. Even after so many months of being apart Scott scent is still familiar to him, most likely imprinted in his mind forever. Stiles breaths in the rich scent of Scott, closing his eyes feeling a kind of relief that he didn’t even know he needed. 

“What are you doing here?” Stiles asks pulling back from Scott so he can really look at him. He’s wearing a red Argent army uniform, though it looks dirty and dingy like its been worn too many times in a row without a good washing. 

“I asked you first!” Scott says excitedly before pulling Stiles into another tight embrace. 

“Get away from him!” a voice bark from behind him and Stiles pulls out of Scott’s embrace to look at Derek. He looks majestic from where he’s sitting on horseback, the most princely he’s ever looked to Stiles though he also looks frighteningly fierce. “Let go of him!” 

Stiles stumbles towards Derek feeling dizzy by the entire situation. He feels like he’s in a trance or some sort of wonderful confusing dream. “Derek stop! Its Scott, my friend from Beacon. My brother.” 

The last words come out as more of a plea than anything else. Derek slips from his horse, stocking up to Stiles and pulling him into his arms. It's the most territorial he’s ever seen Derek and it would almost be funny if he wasn’t afraid Derek was about to rip Scott’s head off. The tension between the two is almost to much to bare. 

“I’m less concerned about who he is and more concerned about why he’s riding with an Argent,” Derek growls pulling Stiles behind him like he expect someone to reach out and attack him. 

The second rider is clearly a beta based of her muted scent. Her clothes are nicer than Scotts though still the bright Argent red. Her hair is pulled back into a long dark brown braid which falls down her back, and shines enchantingly in the moonlight. She looks like a princess from a fairy tale, everything from her glowing skin to her aristocratic posture. 

“We come in peace,” the princess says dropping off her horse with experienced elegance. She steps forward slowly coming to stand before Derek, hands raised away from the weapons on her belt and back. “I just want to talk about ending the war. We’re on the same side Prince Theoderik.” 

Derek gives her a weary look, shoulders still tense but no longer looking like he still plans on attacking them. Derek sighs and pulls himself back up onto his horse. “Ride around the side of the manor to the stables, then we'll head into the dining hall.” 

Stiles is surprised when Derek offers him a hand, inviting him up onto the horse. Stiles takes it, pulling himself up behind Derek though he suspect that it's really more of Derek pulling him up. They ride to the stables, somewhere in the manor that he’s never been before. Derek puts his wide hands on Stiles waist as they dismount, helping him to gracefully land on his feet. 

Derek takes Stiles hand in his, leading him back into the manor and the wonderful warmth of being indoors once again. They walk slightly ahead of the group, so their conversation can’t be overheard. Stiles suspect the rest of the Hale soldiers stayed back to escort the Argent princess and Scott, making sure they don’t cause any trouble. 

“Did you know that Scott was working closely with Princess Allison?” Derek asks, leading Stiles through the manor and towards the dining hall. Stiles wonders if downstairs in the kitchen they’ve gotten started on breakfast cause his stomach is grumbling faintly. 

He’s talked about Scott a few times with Derek, is was hard to talk about his childhood without talking about Scott. Derek knows that Stiles considers Scott basically his brother even if they don’t share any blood and that he’s missed him desperately since Scott got drafted. 

“I had no idea, I haven’t even heard from Scott since he got drafted. I thought he was just going to be just a regular soldier, not working with a princess,” Stiles responds, thinking back to the day Scott was drafted. 

Stiles had been over at the McCall house, playing a card game with Scott, when there was a heavy knock on the door. Scott had gone to answer the door only to find two Argent soldier standing in the doorway. They’d given Scott ten minutes to say goodbye, before he had to come with them. Mrs. McCall was trying to hold back tears during their goodbyes, and Stiles knows she had done that for Scotts sake. 

“I know that Princess Allison wasn’t serving in the army,” Derek says as they arrive at dining hall. “I guess we’ll find out how they met.” 

The rest of the group joins them in the dining hall, all of them sitting together around one of the long tables. Stiles is able to get a seat across from Scott and next to Derek and he’s pretty sure he sees some of the soldiers he doesn’t know giving him jealous looks. He’s sure they just see him as Derek’s silly omega whom certainly doesn't belong in their secret military meeting. 

Stiles tries to give Scott a reassuring smile, and part of him wishes he could reach across the table and give Scotts hand a reassuring squeeze. He’s pretty sure Derek would rip Scott’s throat out if he did that. Scott looks nervous and considering he’s surrounded by enemy soldiers that feel is certainly warranted. 

“I suppose we should start with what you want, then we can get to how you got here,” Derek says, clearly the rest of the soldiers defer to his judgment and command. 

“My father, Prince Christopher, sent me in his name. Unlike his father King Gerad and my aunt Princess Katherine, my father and I don’t agree that the war should continue. The crimes against your family were an atrocity. We want your help replacing my grandfather and aunt, and for you to support my father as king Prince Theoderik,” Allison explains, instead of the words coming out in a panicked rush she sounds diplomatic and fiercely confident. 

Stiles realises that Derek just got outed as a prince to most of these soldiers. He’s pretty sure Derek never planned on telling most people that he’s a prince, for his own protection more than anything else. It's not something he can go back on though. 

“We’re also interested in ending the war, and I know Prince Christopher is best of the Argents and I’m sure my sister would agree to seeing him as king,” Derek replies. 

Allison cringes slightly at Derek's words but Stiles knows it would be to much for Derek to pay the Argents a true complement. He has more than enough reason to despise all of them, and not be willing to stop the war until their entire regime is overthrown. 

Boyd cuts in from where he’s silently been sitting next to Derek. “What specifically do you want from us? Just public support from the Hale family or military support to act out your cou?” 

It's clear that Boyd is Derek’s second in command, Derek always look to Boyd for another opinion. He’s one of the few people who actually knew about Derek being a prince. Boyd is also part of Derek pack, which puts him in a position of being one of the people that Derek's trusts the most. 

“There's other people who back up my father as king, but they can’t offer any of their own soldiers without fear of my grandfather finding out. They can offer monetary and supplies support,” Allison explains. 

Stiles honestly doesn't know much about the Argent family. Derek told him that the Argent army is filled with spies for the royal family, and unleashes harsh punishment on anyone they suspect of going against them. Stiles can’t even imagine what kind of horrible things that they would do to Scott if the king where to find about about his treatoness activities, even if it was his own grandchild he was working for. 

Princess Katherine is set to take the throne after her father dies. King Gerald has been on the throne for forever, having been crowned after his own father's death in his early twenties. Princess Kate is the younger of his King Gerald's two children, but because she’s an alpha and her brother is a beta it meant she could inherit the throne instead of him. Based off what Derek has said it also sounds like Kate and Gerald share a similar ideology, more so than Christopher does.  

“How do we know this isn’t a trap?” Derek asks setting Princess Allison and Scott with the most intense and intimidating stare. 

“I suppose I can’t promise you anything, and I would understand why you’d turn me down,” Allison says diplomatically. “I will go with any group you send myself if that's any consolation.” 

It then when Stiles is reminded of the conversation he and Derek had earlier that afternoon. How with the southern princess missing there's no way the war will fully be able to end. Stiles turns to look at Derek and wonders if Derek thinking about the same thing as him. 

“We’ll have to think about it before we just send people away with you,” Boyd says, who is always one for being sensible and calm. 

Derek nods along to Boyds comment but in a half hearted distant way. Derek sets his intense gaze on Princess Allison. “I would actually consider helping you if you return the southern princess to her home.” 

Stiles feels oldy pleased this his and Derek minds are so in sync. He feels special, being in the know about the missing princess. Especially because of all the disapproving looks that the soldiers were giving him when he took his seat next to Derek. He feels like that knowledge actually makes him deserve to sit beside Derek. 

“I don’t know if we have the southern princess, it's not like my grandfather lets me in on all of his plans but I promise if I find her I’ll help in trying to her get home,” Allison says earnestly. 

Its then that breakfast is brought in, empty plates handed out to everyone around the table. Foods brought in and set along the center of the table so everyone can reach forward and grab what they want. There's scrambled eggs, toast, sausage and a fruit salad. Stiles reaches forward and immediately starts piling food onto his plate. 

The conversation is momentary halted by the arrival of food. It also seems to ease the tension in the room everyone to occupied trying to shove food into their mouths. Scott and Allison are both given plates, which they looked momentarily surprised about, before they to start getting food. 

Stiles looks up after devouring most of the food on his plate and gives Scott a wide smile. “How did you end up with the princess? You have to tell me everything that's happened since you left Beacon.” 

“Right after I left beacon I was sent to one of the Argents militaries training camps, that is where I met Allison’s father,” Stiles sees the little look that Scott gives Allison, the flush on his cheeks and the fact that he’s referring to the princess as  _ Allison. _ “He discovered that I’m a werewolf and he sent me to be Allison's guard rather then put me on the front lines like any other commanders would have done.” 

Stiles has no love for the Argents, not after what they did to Derek and how they tore Stiles father and best friend away from him. He feels thankful, warm hearty appreciation towards Prince Christopher knowing that he’s probably the reason that Scott is still alive. Honestly part of Stiles had begun to accept that he’d never see Scott again, and now having him sitting across the table from him is almost too much. 

“My dad, have you seen him?” Stiles leans forward, feeling tension in his shoulders at whatever the answer is going to be. Part of him almost wishes he could take the question back if he didn’t think the curiosity would drive him crazy. 

Scott shakes his head. “I haven't seen him. Honestly I thought he was still back on Beacon but I also thought the same about you.” 

“They took him a little bit after you, haven’t heard from him since,” Stiles says. For a brief minute he had hope that maybe Scott would have even a little bit of information but he should have known that was too much to hope for. 

Scott shakes his head looking both sad and angry at the very same time. “I’m so sorry Stiles. A lot of the older people they draftered just work in the training camp, maybe that's where he is.” 

Stiles offers a wobbly smile at his reassuring words though they don’t actually do anything to make Stiles feel better. Underneath the table he feels Derek slips their hands together, curling their finger around each others. Stiles hadn’t even realised that Derek was listening to their conversation. 

He turns to look at Derek, who gives him a sweet small smile before turning to look down at his plate again. Stiles squeezes his hand back and wishes they were back in their room so he could wrap himself in Derek body. When Stiles looks away from Derek Scott's giving him a smirk from across the table. 

“So how did you end up here?” there's a smirk still clearly planted on Scotts face and suggestion heavy in his voice. 

“Southerns raided Beacon and took a bunch of the omega’s. They sold us to the Hales to work in the manor, been here since around fall,” Stiles explains bluntly. 

Scotts gives him a completely horrified look. “You mean they have you working as slave labour!” 

Stiles doesn’t mention the fact that serving in the Argent army would basically be considered slave labour, considering they took Scott against his will and he’s not allowed to leave. “We get allowances, not that there's anywhere it really spend it anyways and we can leave whenever we want.” 

A few of the omega’s left after Derek told Ms. Morrell that they could leave at any time. He said that he wanted to do it earlier, but with the winter and heavy snowfall it would have been impossible for them to get very far anyways. Only a few of the ones who to worked under Ms. Blake had left. 

“But you decided to stay?” The grin that Scotts giving him is positively infectious. 

“Derek and I are getting bonded in a few days,” Stiles admits a blush high on his cheeks. He turns to look at Derek, giving him a soft smile. Scotts giving Derek a squinty eyed glare that would look intimidating on anyone but Scott. He’s always been fiercely protective of Stiles, its why back in Beacon people used to think they might one day get married. He did always act like an alpha whose defending their omega.

When they were kids their parents used to joke all the time about how they would get bonded one day. Of course they all thought that Stiles would be an alpha cause he used to boss Scott around. It wasn’t until they were older that they realised Scott and Stiles saw each other more as brothers than anything else. 

Stiles leans across the table close enough to Scott so he can whisper into his ear. “What about you and the princess, I saw the looks you’ve been giving each other.” 

Derek gives him an unimpressed look but Stiles just smirks back at him. Scott is flushed pink, giving Stiles a unhappy and slightly pouty look which makes Stiles giggle. Scott looks over at Allison beside him to see if she’s listening, but she’s turned away talking with Boyd and if she did hear anything she’s very politely pretending she didn’t. 

“There's nothing going on,” Scott says though the pleased little smile on his face says otherwise. 

Stiles hums in response and gives Scott a knowing look. He’s very familiar with  _ the nothing going on _ game, he played it several times when people asked him about Derek. The blush on Scotts face says everything he needs to know. 

Breakfast is finished everyone's plates get carried away. Stiles wonders what's going on down in the kitchen and once he’s done here Stiles plans on sneaking downstairs to gossip. He’s sure all the information will be much appreciated. 

“Everyone head to bed, we’ll meet back up in the morning,” Derek says as people begin to leave the table. “Allison and Scott, I can show you to your rooms.”

Stiles grabs Derek arm to get his attention. “I’m heading downstairs, I’ll meet you in our room in a bit alright.” 

Derek nods in response and Stiles throws Scott one last smile before heading downstairs. He trusts that Scott is good hands with Derek watching over him. The soldiers have been cooped up here for a while meaning lots of pent up aggression, and Stiles is slightly afraid what they might do towards the enemy they see in Scott. 

The kitchen is swarmed with people dropping off plates. Ms. Morrell gives him a disgruntled look, mumbles something about not doing his fare share of work, and tells him he at least has to do a few dishes before heading back upstairs. Stiles silently goes to the sink and begins rinsing off plates. 

“So, what's going on upthere?” Erica asks as she begins drying dishes. She keeps her voice low enough so that Ms. Morrell can’t accuse them of gossiping when they should be working. 

“My friend Scott just arrived here with Princess Allison,” Stiles whispers back. 

Danny comes over and stands between them. “Truly! The princess? What does she want?” 

“Prince Christopher apparently want to end the war, through overthrowing his father and sister. Princess Allison trying to recruit some Hale soldiers to help her father with a cou,” Stiles responds, looking back to make sure Ms. Morrell isn’t near them. As soon as he tells them that he realises he probably shouldn’t. “Don’t spread this around though.” 

Danny shrugs. “Who are we going to tell anyways?” 

“Apparently the southern princess is also missing and the royal family thinks that the Argents are holding her captive,” Stiles blurts out and then instantly curses his big fat mouth. 

Danny leans forward then with he kind of pleased expression someone always gets on their face when they have a particularly juicy piece of information. “I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a image of the southern princess before, but there was a painting done of her that was in a magazine. I kind of think Kira looks a lot like the girl in the painting.” 

They all turn to look over at Kira, were she’s putting away the washed and cleaned silverware. They try to be discreet, be he doubts the really succeed considering three people staring is pretty obvious. Kira’s back is mostly turned to them, but Isaac notices and gives them a confused look. 

“Really a princess? The painting probably wasn’t the accurate, trying to make the princess look more pretty than she actually is. Kira probably just looks like the painting not the actual princess,” Erica says as they turn back away from Kira. 

“I don’t know,” Stiles mumbles worrying his lip with his teeth. “she is sophisticated, I know she speaks multiple languages. Southern speak is her first language after all.  Also remember that thing with Ms. Blake, she knew all those fighting techniques.” 

“That doesn’t seem like something any old commoner would know,” Danny fills in, he and Stiles sharing a look. 

Erica lets out an annoyed huff. “That doesn’t mean she’s the princess. She’s probably just from some wealthy family in the capital of the south.” 

“She doesn’t ever talk about her family,” Danny points out giving them both a conspiratorial look. Now that Stiles thinks about it he hardly knows anything about Kira’s life before the manor unlike with the rest of the group. She’s always seems a little distant about her history and family. 

Stiles turns to look back at Kira once again. “We should do some investigating, see if we can find anything out.” 

Danny and Erica both nodded in agreement, as they go back to working on the dishes. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter. the next chapter will be posted on in the afternoon on Thursday. thank you to everyone who left comments and kudos!!


	7. Chapter 7

It's raining the day of Stiles bonding ceremony. It's not a violent rain, more like a soft mist that sometimes turns a little more intense which leads to a soft pitter patter against the windows. It's the kind of rain that makes Stiles want to curl up on the window bench and watch it all day, preferably with a warm cup of tea in his hand and a good book. 

Stiles takes a long bath and uses the buttery lavender soap that Derek gave him as a gift. He loves taking a bath, loves it even more when Derek in there with him, but even alone the private bath is still delightful. The tub is long enough where he can stretch his legs out resting his neck against the lip of the tub. 

After the bath he uses a thick fluffy towel before wrapping himself up in his banyan. He flops down on the bed, smashing his face against one of the pillows. He knows he should be getting ready but mostly he just wants to curl up with Derek and a brand new novel and simply relax. 

The last few days have been stressful. Allison and Scott's arrival has set a layer of tension over the manor that hangs like a heavy cloud. Everyone seems to be a just a little more on edge, and a little more suspicious of one another. Stiles starting to think all the tension is going to lead to something truly awful happening. 

He can tell people are suspicious of his relationship with Scott, despite the fact that Derek seems completely fine with it. Stiles hadn't realised that so many people cared about him and what he’s doing, let alone even know who he is. Suddenly he feels like all the soldiers are whispering about him behind his back, accusing him of being a spy or some other awful thing.

The hunt for the Argent spy and for the southern princess have begun in earnest. Stiles been keeping a hopefully discrete eye on Kira. Now he’s actually starting to believe what Danny suggested, that Kira might actually be the southern princess. Stiles is worried that he’s just seeing what he wants to see, and hasn’t told Derek about it yet. 

Derek told him that they’ve narrowed down the amount of people who could be the spy. Stiles knows that everyone finding out that Derek is the prince is stressing him out. Its changed the dynamic between him and some of the soldiers. Dynamics that were already going to be off due to the presence of Princess Allison. 

There's a knock on the door, Stiles rolls over so his face is no longer pressed into the bed. “Come in.” 

He expects it to be Derek at the door but instead Erica, Danny, Isaac and Kira stand in the doorway. They're all wearing wide smiles, and Isaac is carrying something covered with a white cloth in his hands. Stiles scrambles to sit up, not wanting to look like he was just pathetically laying around. 

“What are you doing?” Erica asks coming over and grabbing his arm. She pulls him up off the bed, almost making him stumble as he stands. “You need to getting ready, not just laying around!” 

“I was just feeling tired,” Stiles replies giving what he knows is a lame excuse. 

Danny rolls his eyes. “Are you feeling some pre-bonding jitters? You know if you want to get out of this you can, we’ll help you run away from the manor and everything.” 

Stiles laughs at Danny's words but shakes his head. “No, I don’t want to escape. I think I’m just feeling a little bit nervous.” 

“That's perfectly normal,” Erica replies giving him a reassuring smile and a pat on the back. “Now come on it's time to get ready.” 

Danny goes over to the closet and gets out Stiles wedding outfit. Stiles changes quickly, his hands are shaking to much for him to be able to button up his shirt so Isaac has to help him. Stiles feels a little light headed and lets Kira straighten out his clothes as Erica tries to smooth his hair down to no avail.

His shirt is white. A little more cream colored then just strictly starch white. The jacket and pants are red which Danny had insisted goes nicely with his skin. It's also the same outfit he wore to the yuletide festival so he didn’t have to make an entirely new outfit. Kira helped him embroider little flowers on the jacket, little blue flowers all around the collar with green leaves. 

“You look wonderful. Definitely fit to be marrying a prince,” Erica says as she makes one last attempt to smooth his hair down. 

“I suppose that means I’m ready then,” Stiles says giving them all a nervous smile. He gives Erica’s hand a squeeze and then Isaac pulls him into a surprisingly tight hug. Kira presses a kiss to his cheek and Danny gives his shoulder a squeeze. Stiles feels soothed under their attention and love. 

Isaac steps forward with the white sheet covered object in his hands. “You can't leave until you put this on.” 

Danny reaches forward and takes the white cloth off. Instantly he recognizes the thing in Isaac’s hands from illustrations he’s seen in books about the north and once in a pile of his clothes his father kept in a trunk at the end his bed that Stiles wasn’t supposed to go through. 

It's a kokoshnik, a cloth crown that is common for omega’s to wear during weddings in the north. His mother's had been blue, with careful beaded embroidery with swirly designs in vague flower shapes. It had been a true northern kokoshnik that his mom had brought all the way with her from her home to wear. 

This one is red to match Stiles jacket and pants. The embroidery isn’t quite as intricate but it's lovely nonetheless. Stiles runs his fingers over the embroidery, his eyes feeling just a little bit watery. 

Stiles looks at the four of them with a wide smile. “I can’t believe you made this for me.” 

“It was our pleasure,” Erica says reaching up and adjusting the kokoshnik on his head. The weight of it is a little supringing, but with a few carefully placed bobby pins he knows that it won’t be going anywhere. Stiles turns so he can admire his reflection in the mirror. 

“Its was Kira’s idea,” Isaac says flashing Kira a grin who blushes slightly. “She said she saw it in a book and thought you would like it.” 

“Well I love it,” Stiles replies turning around and giving Kira a quick tight hug. “Thank you, all of you.” 

Erica hooks his arms through Stiles, repeating words that Stiles had said to Danny before his bonding cermony. “Come on, its would be rude to be late to your own bonding ceremony.” 

It feels like it takes forever to get to the chapel. Stiles feels his anxiety rise the closer they get to the chapel but also his excitement. The feelings together make him feel a little wobbly on his feet and overwhelmed. He also feels like he might throw up everything he’s eaten today or maybe possibly jump for joy. 

He surprised when Scott is standing at the door of the chapel. Stiles hasn’t seen him nearly as much as he would like over the last couple of days. Scott stands loyally by Princess Allison’s side, Scott has always been loyal beyond belief. It's one of the things that Stiles has always liked best about him. 

Scott gives him one of his classic Scott grins, wide and loving and just a little bit silly. “I was wondering if you would like me to walk you down the ailse?” 

“I would love that,” Stiles replies giving Scott a hug. It’s his familiar scent which helps calm Stiles down, though he’s still radiating excess energy. He ready for this to be done, to be fully bonded with Derek. He’s also ready to get to the large dinner and celebration planned for tonight. 

Scott hooks his arm through Stiles and gives his hand a quick squeeze. “Last chance to back out.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Stiles says with a roll of his eyes. “Let's do this.” 

The doors to the chapel open with a loud creak. The majority of the chapel seats are filled, which surprises Stiles even though it really shouldn’t. It is the wedding of a prince, and of all the soldiers commander which means it only makes sense that they’d want to attend. Plus the large celebration taking place afterwards it probably pretty good motivation. 

He spots Princess Allison sitting in the front row, her eyes stuck on Scott with a slight blush on her cheeks. He spots a few other people he recognizes but mostly he gaze is focused solely on Derek standing at the end of the ail. 

Derek wearing his army uniform which looks crisp and freshly pressed. He’s wearing all of his medals as well which makes him look the most dignified that Stiles has ever seen him. Derek gaze is also on him and Stiles finds himself smiling uncontrollably under that look. Derek smiles in return, small and more reserved, but it makes him feel like he’s floating. 

When they reach the end of the ailse Scott does the traditional pass off. Scott aborts the move midway through and instead gives Stiles a quick hug. Is makes Stiles laugh, as he presses his hand into Dereks. 

Deaton is standing behind them and gives them each a smile as they turn to look at him. “May this union be blessed by the goddess Luna who watches over all and the northern goddess Ziva who will bless both of you with love and fertility.” 

At the mention of the goddess Ziva along with love and fertility makes Stiles blushes slightly, giving Derek a quick grin. Deaton then bring forward the bowl with the sacred dirt. It's really just regular dirt but the bowl is painted with red and yellow flower to add some sense of ceremony to it. 

Deaton presses dirt to Derek’s head first and then Stiles. “You will be bound in mind.” 

The dirt is surprisingly warm against his skin, and Stiles wonders if there's some sort of heating spell on the bowl. Its leaves his forehead feeling warm like someone palm is pressed against it. Deaton moves down and presses dirt to both of their chests. “In heart and in spirit.” 

The red ribbon is taken from where its been laying over Deatons arm, and is used next. Stiles is convinced that there's magic on the ribbon because it sends electric shocks up his hand and arm as soon as Deaton wraps Dereks and Stiles hands together. He wonders if the magic is low enough that only a mage can feel it because Derek doesn’t look he’s felt the shocks at all. 

As soon as the ribbon is tied on their hands the crowd erupted into applause. Derek leans forward and presses a sweet kiss to Stiles lips. It’s a human tradition to kiss your newly wedded bondmate but one that Stiles finds he rather likes. Somehow the applause seems to become even louder after the kiss, so loud that it feels like its ringing in his ears. 

They walk down the ailse, Stiles knows he’s grinning like a man possessed. Everyone follows them out of the chapel, making their way through the manor like a parade. The end in the dining room, food and drink laid out for everyone to take part in. 

The fact that their hands are tied together makes their shoulders bump together and Stiles laughs uncontrollably. Instead of laughing uncontrollably Derek keeps pressing kisses to Stiles lips, quick little pecks that come out of nowhere and makes Stiles grin even wider than he thought was humanly possible. Derek also keeps pressing his nose into Stiles hairline and collarbone to scent him, attracting raised eyebrows from all the werewolves in the room. 

The ribbon has to stay on their wrists until midnight and it makes eating a little bit awkward. Stiles is already not the most graceful person but this makes his clumsiness so much worse. Derek decides to feed him which is sexy enough that Stiles is a little embarrassed about doing it in public. Wolves can smell arousal and Stiles is sure he’s overwhelming the room with his scent. 

It isn’t long before most of the people in the room are at least a little tipsy. They recently got some imported wolfsbane and the werewolves seem to be going a little bit crazy. So long without getting drunk has made of their limits pretty low, and after only a few drinks many of the werewolves seem somewhere beyond tispy and well into totoally drunk. 

Stiles isn’t very drunk, he’s only had one drink throughout the entire night. Derek on the other hand hasn’t had any of the werewolf infused alcohol. He’d declined taking any when Ethan had offered him some and instead decided to just have the regular wine. They probably are some of the most coherent people in the room. 

Some tables get pushed aside for an impromptu dance floor, a few people go and grab their instruments to start a band. Derek pulls Stiles out onto the dancefloor with a soft smile. It's a little awkward with their hands still tied together, but Stiles puts his free hand on Derek’s shoulder and Derek puts his hand on Stiles waist as they sway slowly back and forth. 

“Are you having fun?” Derek asks quietly tucking his face close to Stiles ear. 

Stiles nods and looks up at Derek with a soft easy smile. “This is wonderful. Really, it's amazing. I feel so happy.” 

Stiles hadn’t even realised it till now, how overwhelmingly almost unbearably happy he feels. Its like something hot in the middle of his chest, bubbling up the back of his throat. He’s been smiling so much his face hurts and he’s sure this night alone will leave him with smile lines. 

“I’m happy too,” Derek presses a kiss to Stiles hairline. “I was so nervous this morning.” 

“Me too, I could barely even button up my own shirt,” Stiles says with a laugh. The song changes to something more fast paced but Stiles and Derek keep swaying slowly back and forth on the dance floor. 

Stiles and Derek sway on the floor for several more songs, until Stiles feet are to sour that he needs to sit down. There's cake then, rich beautiful chocolate with raspberries on top. Stiles devours his piece and then eats the majority of Derek as well. Stiles sweet tooth always surprises him. Commotion on the other side of the room pulls his gaze away from the peice of cake in front of him. 

“Someone get Dr. Deaton!” Isaac cries from across the room, standing up from his seat with panic written all over his face. Beside him Kira is slumped over in her chair, forehead pressed against the table. 

Jackson rushes out of the room returning after a minute with Deaton trailing behind him. Stiles stands up in surprise, stumbling out of his chair. It's awkward because he’s still tied with Derek, but he pulls Derek up with him so can make his way across the room to Kira. 

“She’s been poisoned,” Dr. Deaton says from where he’s already standing next to Kira. Her eyes have rolled back in her head and there's a black goo leaking out of her mouth and her skin looks horribly grey. 

“Do you know what’s happening to her?” Stiles asks, coming and hovering behind Dr. Deaton. Ethan helps prop up Kira’s head so Deaton can inspect her. 

Dr. Deaton turns look at Erica whose hovering behind him. “Go to my office and get a book entitled  _ Magic from the Ancient Worlds _ , its bound in blue leather. This poison in an old magic, hopeful that book will have an antidote spell.” 

Erica races off get the book. Dr. Deaton grabs Kira’s hand mumbling about how it's clammy. She’s still breathing, her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths. Her body is completely limp in the chair and if Ethan wasn’t holding her up she’d probably fall out of it. 

It takes excruciating long minutes for Erica to return with the book, which she immediately passes to Deaton who flips through the pages quickly. He ends on a page near the end of the book. “Stiles, do you think you can do this spell?” 

The page is filled with words and it's a far much more complicated spell then Stiles has ever attempted before. That certainly not going to keep him from trying. “Can someone get me some mountain ash please. I have a jar in my room.” 

Danny sprints away to get the mountain ash while Stiles reads over the spell in the meantime. The spell is in old speak, something Stiles only vaguely familiar with through other spells he’s practiced. He’s certainly no master of the language though. Danny returns with the jar of mountain ash and practically tosses it into Stiles outstretched hand. 

Beside him Derek is working on untying the knot binding them together. The red ribbon comes undone and Derek quickly unwinds their hands. It's not nearly midnight yet, and Stiles knows wolves believe uniting it before then is bad luck. He shoot Derek a confused look. 

“A girls life is not worth some silly little tradition,” Derek says giving Stiles a reassuring pat on the back and an understanding smile. 

Stiles takes a little bit of mountain ash and rubs it on his hands. Dr. Deaton instructs Stiles to press his hands against Kira’s throat. It makes his hands tingle slightly. Sitles begins reading the spell, voice becoming more confident as he goes. 

When Stiles stops talking silence hangs heavy in the air around them. Nothing happens, Kira is still completely unconscious. Stiles doesn’t remove his hands from where they are pressed against Kira’s neck, if anything he presses down with more intent. Stiles feels a stray tear leak out of his eye and down his cheek. 

Kira comes alive with a large gasp of breath. Her body goes rigid and at once Stiles pulls his hands away from Kira’s neck. Her eyes are back to normal and she looks around the room with clear confusion. She reached up and rubs her own neck, before coughing a few times in an attempt to clear her voice. “What just happened?” 

“You were poisoned,” Dr. Deaton explains stepping forward and moving in front of Stiles. “Someone help me move her to the infirmary, I want to keep monitoring her throughout the night.” 

An alpha who Stiles just recently learned is named Malia moves forward to help Kira make her way to the infirmary. Kira’s able to walk with only just a little bit of assistance, and Malia just provides some support around her waist to keep her upright. Kira gives them one last fleeting look as they head out of the room. 

It's then that Allison comes forward through the crowd who has slowly started to disperse since Kira woke up. “What does it mean that someone poisoned that girl?” 

“That poison wasn’t normal, the material was activated using a spell,” Stiles explains, looking down at the spell book Dr. Deaton had given him. From the spell book he can tell that someone must have used magic and mountain ash and somehow got Kira to ingest it. “This means that there is another mage in the castle.” 

 

 

 

***

  
  


 

Stiles didn’t think it was possible but somehow the tensions within the manor has increased. He certainly didn’t get the wedding night that he had thought for Derek was gone almost the entire night in private meetings that he wasn’t allowed to talk about with Stiles. 

Stiles had gone to the infirmary with Isaac, Danny and Erica. They had piled into bed with Kira, curling up with some snacks and leftover wedding cake. Kira pushes away the food but seemed to happily except the company. 

“I have to tell you all something,” Kira says nervously after they’ve eaten all the food and are just slumped in the bed. 

“Is it something bad?” Isaac asks from where he’s curled up against Kira’s side with his head pressed against her pillow. The bed isn’t really big enough for all of them, but they are cuddled close together on the infirmary bed anyways. Their content omega scents blending together and soothing each other. 

Kira shakes her head. “It's not bad. I wanted to tell you all that my real name is actually Kira Yukimura.” 

They all know that Yukimura is the name of the southern royal family, though their much to secretive for any of them to know the names of individual family members. They exchange looks realising that their suspicions have turned out to be true. 

Erica gives Kira a wide slightly triumphant grin. “We all thought you were. I heard you talking in southern speak one day and Danny saw a portrait in a magazine of the southern princess that he recognized it as looking just like you.” 

“Really? I thought you all had no idea,” She’s grinning, clearly relieved that they didn’t shun her. 

Stiles lays a heavy hand on her arm with a more serious expression on his face. “Your family is looking for you, and they’ve accused the Argents of having kidnapped you. The south is going to declare war on the Argents which means this war is never going to end.” 

He feels a little bit like he’s just parroting words that Derek told him. Stiles just wants the war to end, especially now with Princess Allison here and what seems like an actual chance for the war to come to an end. Stiles is ready to find out what his life with Derek will be like after the war is over. He’s ready not to live in constant fear that someone he loves could die. 

Guilt is written all over Kira’s face at Stiles words. That not what he wanted yet at the same time if it motivates her to take some sort of action he won’t necessarily feel bad about. Still the guilt on her face does set a heavy feeling in his stomach. 

“I’m sure my parents are going completely crazy. I’m surprised it took this long for them to take action,” Kira admits. “I was supposed to being going to the winter palace when it happened, I was heading a little bit before the rest of my family. My group was attacked by mercenaries who then sold me off to the people who sold us all to the Hales. By the time we got here it was to late and winter was apparaching, so I figured I would just wait out winter and then try to return home.” 

“Why didn’t you leave when we were to allowed to?” Danny asks. Its a valid question considering it seemed like Kira plan was to leave without telling them anything about herself. Winter has been long over at this point, and several omega’s have already left the manor. 

“Malia’s been feeding me information,” Kira says, Malia was the one who helped Kira into the infirmary and Stiles is starting to wonder if there's something more there. “She told me that Argents were attacking Hale trade routes to the south. I was scared that Argents would capture me on my way home.” 

Kira always seem to carry a certain amount of confidence, Stiles now thinks that maybe her royal upbringing had something to do with that. Having her admit that she’s scared of something is what startles him, like being let in on some deep dark secret. 

“I think you should tell Derek, he can help you,” Stiles urges. 

Kira stares down at her lap, clearly deep in thought. The color has returned to her cheeks in the last few hours and she almost looks like nothing even happened. The memory of that second when he didn’t think he could save her will be forever imprinted in Stiles mind. Its something he won’t be able to think about without feeling at least a little sick in his stomach. 

Kira gives Stiles a calm look with a defiant set to her eyebrows. “Okay, I’ll tell him. If you think it will help end this war.” 

“Come on then,” Stiles slipping off of the bed. “I guess now is as good a time as any.” 

Kira gives him a surprised look but scrambles off of the bed. It's clear she didn’t expect to go and talk with Derek right now. Honestly Stiles didn’t think she would agree to talk to Derek, not without some careful coaching and a great deal of time for her to think it over. He wants to grab onto the fact that she’s agreed to speak with Derek so quickly and not give her time to change her mind. 

“Dr. deaton said that Kira wasn’t supposed to leave the infirmary,” Isaac calls after them as Kira and Stiles start to walk away. 

“I think I’ll be fine, I really feel perfectly alright,” Kira responds turning to give Isaac, Danny and Erica a reassuring look. “Let's go, I’m tired of keeping this secret any longer.” 

From there they head upstairs ignoring the passing looks they get through the hallways. Kira’s very public poisoning now means that everyone is the manor knows who she is and he’s sure everyone is surprised to see her out of the infirmary. Few people would choose to go against a direct order from Dr. Deaton. 

Stiles checks his bedroom first, not that he expected Derek to be there. The meeting rooms are staggered between bedrooms and Stiles doesn't want to go knocking on just any old door. Besides being a waste of time he doesn’t want to end up walking into some strangers bedroom. 

“I’m sorry, do you think you can tell me where Prince Derek is?” Stiles asks as soldier walking down the hallway. It feels strange referring to Derek as prince but he doesn’t want to get lectured right now about showing a prince the proper respect. 

“The door at the end of the hall,” the soldier says hurring away as he points out the right door. 

Stiles and Kira rush down there hallway, and Stiles knocks quickly on the heavy wood door. A muffled voice tell them to come in and Stiles opens the door just enough so him and Kira can slip into the room. He thought the room would be crowded with people but he’s surprised to see only Derek, Boyd, Princess Allison and Scott within the room. 

“Whats going on?” Derek asks rushing over to stand beside Stiles. “Is everything alright? Has someone else been poisoned?” 

Stiles shakes his head. “No, everythings is fine. Kira just has something she wants to tell you.” 

Kira steps forwards then, hands fiddling with her skirt. Even though she’s clearly nervous there's still a sense of authority that surrounds her. Now that Stiles knows she’s a princess, it's hard to imagine her as anything else. The way she holds herself can only be found in someone royal. 

“My name is Kira Yukimura, I’m the southern princess,” Kira says bluntly which is probably the best way to go about sharing that peice of information. Even though Stiles already knew the words she was going to say they still feel a little shocking. 

It's clear that Allison, Boyd, Scott and Derek are all shocked as well. Derek briefly closes his eyes slouching down into a chair. Scott looks like he just got trampled by a herd of horses. Its Allison who recovers the fastest. “What have you been doing here? How did you get here?” 

“I was captured by southern raiders on my way to the winter palace, once I got here I thought it was better to just wait out winter,” Kira explains, rephrasing what Stiles already heard when he was in the infirmary. 

Derek seems to recover from his stunned state next. “It's not that I don’t believe you, but do you have any proof that you are who you claim to be?” 

Stiles shoots Derek a small glare. He knows it's only logical that Derek asks Kira to prove that she’s really the princess, Kira is a stranger to him after all. The fact that he can hear her heart beat means that he knows what Kira said is truthful, or at least she has to believe that she’s telling him the truth for her heartbeat not to change. 

Kira steps forwards fishing out a necklace from underneath her dress. Stiles has never seen the necklace before she must have always kept it hidden carefully under her dress. She unhooks the thin chain from around her neck and holds it out to Derek. “This is a necklace my mother gave me, with the family crest on it.” 

Derek inspects is carefully before handing it off to Allison who also looks over it carefully. From what Stiles has learned it's not uncommon for royalty to wear their family crest on their bodies somewhere. Derek has the large tattoo of the triskele across his back, and told Stiles that his siblings also had tattoos on their bodies of the triskele. 

Allison hands the necklace back to Kira and says. “We need to find a way to get you back to the south. I’ll escort you myself if that’s what Prince Derek thinks is best.” 

“If my soldiers are going to riding into Argent territory you’ll certainly be coming with us,” Derek snaps back, while he shows less animosity towards Allison then he showed to the Argents before those feelings don’t just disappear. “I’ll form a team of people to escort her to the south.” 

“I’ve heard it might be dangerous for me to try get back home,” Kira says slowly, clearly trying to make it seem like she’s not completely disagreeing with Derek idea. 

“Some of the trade avenues have been blocked off,” Derek responds giving Allison a look out of the corner of his eye. “I’ll send people with you who know all the back roads, I know you and Malia are friends so I can get her to lead the trip.” 

Kira blushes slightly at the mention of Malia’s name and Stiles is definitely curious about what's going on between the two of them. He also recently learned that Malia is Derek’s cousin, though she seem much more rough around the edges then he would expect from royalty. Apparently she’s his uncles illegitimate daughter so Stiles supposes it's a little bit different then being simply royal.  

“I know where some of the Argents soldiers are posted along the trade routes, I can mark them off on a map,” Allison suggests which earns her a nod of approval from Derek. 

Derek sighs and rubs his hand over his face in clear exhaustion. “There's nothing else that can be done about this tonight. I’ll have someone show you to a new room Princess Kira, I can’t have you sleeping in servants quarters any longer.” 

Kira looks like she’s going to refuse but the exhausted look on everyone's face makes her stop. Stiles hadn’t even really noticed how tired he was until now when suddenly the weariness and heaviness in every part of his body begins to set in. Stiles wants to slump down into his own bed and sleep for a thousand years. 

“Actually, Dr. Deaton wanted Kira to spend the night in the infirmary,” Stiles says as they all begin to leave the room. Stiles has no interest in being on the receiving end of Dr. Deaton wrath, and expects he’ll already get it for simply taking Kira out of the infirmary. 

“You’ll get your new room first thing tomorrow then,” Derek says. “Scott, do you think you can escort Princess Kira down to her room?” 

Scott gives Allison a not so subtle look before she gives him a quick nod. Scott cleary was asking permission to leave Allison’s side, which he hardly ever does. One of the few times Stiles has seen him away from Allison’s side is when he walked Stiles down the ailse and even then they were in the same room. 

Scott and Kira leave together, heading back downstairs to the infirmary. Allison leaves next with Boyd, giving both Stiles and Derek a quick smile. She closes the door behind them, leaving Derek and Stiles alone. 

“Let's got to bed,” Derek says pressing a kiss to Stiles forehead. Their room is just down the hall and Stiles practically wants to leap into bed the minute he sees it. 

They change out of their wedding outfits. Stiles carefully takes off each piece of clothing and then hangs them all up in the closet. The kokoshnik is the last thing that comes off which he sets down on top of the dresser. He slips into his nightshirt before crawling into bed. While a bath does sound nice he’s much to tired and would probably fall askeep before filling the tub. 

Derek slips in bed beside him, curling their bodies close together. Derek presses a careful kiss to Stiles lips, the kind of kiss that is soft and barley even there at all. Stiles reaches up and strokes Derek hair back from his face.

“We got married today,” Stiles murmurs before breaking off into a stream of giggles. 

Derek leans forward for a more heated kiss with a small smile on his face. “Yes, we did.” 

Heated kisses turn into aggressive groping. Derek curls his fingers up under Stiles night shirt, bunching it up around his waist. Derek’s shirt is gone next and Stiles is pushing his sleep pants down as well. Stiles can feel himself getting wet between his thighs, leaning over Derek and kissing his way down his neck. 

“I want you,” Stiles mumbles as Derek wraps his hands around Stiles waist. He pulls Stiles all the way on top of him, so Stiles is sitting up against Derek’s crotch. “I want you inside me.” 

Stiles braces his hands against Derek’s chest as Derek wraps his hand around his own cock. Stiles is already wet enough that it's easy enough for Stiles to slowly slide down onto Derek's cock. He starts moving slowly, grinding himself against Derek. He bends down so he can kiss a line down Derek's jaw and neck. 

“Oh gods, Derek!” Stiles cries out as he cums, all over Derek's chest and embarrassingly fast. He throws his head back as he feels Derek's knot begin to grow within him. 

Derek grunts as he cums, and Stiles can feel Derek realise within him. Stiles loses all of his energy, slumping forward into Derek’s chest. He gets some of his own cum onto his chest but he’s much too tired to care about that. Derek presses a kiss against Stiles forehead, before rolling them both onto their side. 

It's easy to fall asleep that way. Pressed up against each other and warm under the covers. Before long Stiles eyelids grow heavy with the weight of the day he just had. 

  
  


 

***

  
  


 

Stiles is is pulled away from his lunch when Isaac motions for him to follow him. They go down the hallway, until their in a hidden alcover where no one will overhear them. Stiles was enjoying a sandwich at the kitchen table and desperately wants to get back to it. 

For a second he thought Isaac just wanted to talk about the garden, which is still under construction. It's not a conversation that they have to go somewhere private to have. They’ve spent many a lunch around the kitchen table discussing their plans for the garden and well within the earshot of at least half a dozen people. 

“What's going on?” Stiles asks fantasizing about the juicy half eaten sandwich he left sitting on a plate. 

“I was wondering if you would learn a spell for me?” Isaac asks. 

Ever since he performed the spell on Kira during his wedding he’s gotten several requests from people to learn spells for them. Stiles is more than happy to do them, it's an easy way to be able to practice and explore his magic. Most of them are relatively simple ones, Stiles changes the color of someone's uniform and reheats someones cup of tea. Pretty basic things especially in comparison to what he did for Kira. 

Stiles was surprised that so far no one has harassed him about his magic. He expected the day after his wedding to receive harsh words but instead everyone basically treated him as they had before. Stiles figures it has something to do with being married to Derek and no one wanting to face his wrath for messing with Stiles. 

“Sure, what kind of spell?” Stiles asks, wondering why this is conversation that they are having in secret. Enough people have asked him to do a spell for him its not actually something that's taboo or needs to be kept secret. 

Isaac bites his lip and looks back and forth to check to makes sure no one is around them. “I was hoping you could learn a pregnancy spell for me. I know we talked about it a while ago but...” 

Stiles raises his eyebrows. “So you really think that your pregnant?” 

“Yes, I mean at least I think I am. I’m mostly just tired of not knowing,” Isaac says with a sigh. “How long do you think it would take for you to learn it?” 

“I’ve looked over the spell before so I think I might be able to perform it by the end of the day. It's not a very complicated spell,” it had been one of the first spells about medical magic in a book Dr. Deaton had given him. Also last time when Isaac brought it up Stiles had done a little bit of research. 

“Can you meet me in the infirmary after dinner?” Isaac asks as they move their way out of the nook. 

Before heading back to his lunch Stiles goes up to his room. Sitting on the bookshelf is  _ A Mages Guide to Medical Magic _ , a relatively new book that Dr. Deaton just lent him. He’s been steadily making his way through reading the book, and even got to practice a few spells in the infirmary. He reads it while eating his lunch most days, before storing it in his old room during the day for safe keeping while he goes back to the kitchen. 

Stiles keeps sending Isaac looks as they work on dinner. He knows that unless the persons showing there's no way by simply looking to tell if their pregnant or not. He knows that for a while now Isaac has been convinced that he is. Stiles is wondering if maybe Isaac is just seeing what he wants to see. 

Isaac shows no sign that he’s nervous about what his results will be. All throughout dinner Isaac laughs and jokes around like normal while Stiles watches him like a hawk. Stiles think if it was him who was about to find out whether or not he’s pregnant he’d be going completely crazy. 

After dinner they head into the kitchen to wash the dishes. Kira and Erica head upstairs first, talking about a new new dress Erica’s working on and that she wants Kira to assist her with the embroidery. Danny follows them upstairs after only a few minutes and then Stiles and Isaac head to the infirmary. 

Dr. Deaton comes over to them as they enter the infirmary. “Is everything alright?” 

“Yes, I’m just going to be giving Isaac a quick examination,” Stiles explains and Dr. Deaton motions them over to one of the infirmary beds which Isaac gets on. He stretches out, sitting up against the limp pillow. 

“Are you nervous?” Stiles asks getting out his book and opening it up to the page about pregnancy testing. He sets the book to rest against the bed beside Isaac, so he can look at it for reference. 

Stiles also brought the jar of mountain ash, though he’s hoping that he won’t have to use it. Lately he’s been able to perform nearly all spells without the help of mountain ash to guide the magic through his body. 

Isaac shakes his head. “I don’t think so. I’m fine either way really, actually I’m mostly just excited to find out.” 

“Well we should get started then,” Stiles says, looking down at the book to begin reading the spell. 

“Wait,” Isaac says moving his hands over his belly like he expects Stiles to grab him in some way, and force the spell on him. “We have to wait for Jackson, he’ll be mad if I know before him.” 

Stiles knows he shouldn’t be surprised, but somehow he still is. He should have expected that Jackson would want to be involved in this, and want to know whether or not Issac is pregnant. Just because their not bonded doesn’t mean that their relationship is any less real. Stiles doesn’t have a very high opinion of Jackson, but he should know by now that Jackson adores Isaac. 

“Right. Yes, of course we will wait for him,” Stiles reponds moving back so he’s no longer hovering over Isaac. 

Jackson comes striding into the room a minute later, making a beeline right towards them. He presses a heated kiss to Isaac lips, looking horrifyingly smug when he pulls back. Isaac is smiling at him though, a wide open smile which makes his cheeks just a little bit pink and blotchy. 

“You can get started now,” Isaac says, snuggling himself deeper into the bed as Jackson pulls up a chair so he can take a seat beside Isaac. Stiles notices that they are holding each others hands in a tight grasp. 

Stiles gently reaches forward and presses his hands against Isaac stomach. He slowly starts to read the spell, focusing on feeding the magic through his body and into his hands. The tingly feeling that always accompanies magic is there, though he’s more tham used to that feeling. 

Slowly a glow starts to come from Isaacs stomach, is a low blue color that slowly becomes deeper as Stiles finishes the spell. He looks up from his book and gives Isaac and Jackson a wide smile. “Congratulation to both of you.”  

At once Jackson leans forward so he can press a kiss to Isaac lips. Stiles removes his hands, moving back to give them both some space. Jackson has a gentle hand cradling Isaacs face and a wide smile on his face. Stiles even thinks that he might look a little wet in the eyes. Isaac certainly looks a little teary, but his smile is so wide it looks like it might hurt. 

Stiles collects his book and jar of mountain ash. He leaves, deciding that this is private moment between the two of them. They don’t even seem to notice, to wrapped up in each other and their happiness. Stiles doesn’t find that he’s offended one bit. 

He heads upstairs to his room, it's still early so he didn’t expect Derek to be there. As the plans for Kira’s return to south and the attack on the Argent castle come closer Derek has become increasingly busy. Stiles has decided he’s not going to think about Derek leaving. He’s not going to think about how soon Derek will be risking his life. 

Stiles sets his book and the mountain ash down on his nightstand. He picks up a novel he’s recently begun reading, a recommendation from Derek. It's a little dreary, with lots of dramatic growly heroes and he can’t say that he’s surprised that Derek likes it. He flips it open, and settles down into one of the arm chairs. 

After he’s read about a dozen pages there's a knock on the door. He knows it's not Derek, who know bothers to knock considering its is his room too. Stiles hopes its not some strange soldier looking for Derek. Stiles call out. “Come in.” 

The door opens to reveal Scott who gives him a nervous smile, coming deeper into the room. “Hi, are you busy?” 

“No I’m not,” Stiles says marking his page and shutting his book before setting it on the side table. “Come on, take a seat.” 

There's been some awkwardness between Stiles and Scott ever since he arrived at the manor. Stiles doesn't really know what's causing it, so he doesn’t know how he can fix it. They’ve both changed since their days back in Beacon but Stiles doesn’t love him any less then he did. He wants desperately for the horrible awkwardness between them too dissipate, and for everything to just go back to normal. 

Stiles knows that won’t happen though. They’ll never really be able to go back to how things were before. Stiles has tied himself to Derek for the rest of his life, which means that things can simply never be as they once were. 

“What have you been doing today?” Stiles knows that Scott spends all of his time at Princess Allison's side, a diligent guard of her. 

“Mostly been planning for for the raid,” Scott says, speaking about the plans to overthrowing King Gerald and Princess Kate. “Your  _ husband _ was there for most of it.” 

Stiels notices the changes of tone when Scott says husband _. _ Like it's a dirty thing that doesn’t quite sit right in his mouth. Stiles should have realised that Scott has some issues with Derek, ever since he arrived at the manor he hasn’t seemed to liked Derek very much. He knows that Scott didn’t want them to bond. 

“What's your problem with Derek?” Stiles snaps, his tone comes out harsher then he wanted and he cringes at the hurt expression on Scotts face. That hurt look doesn’t stay for long, and his expression quickly becomes one of anger. 

“He’s no good for you!” Scott burst out. “I don’t understand why you married him! I know he’s a prince but now what? You can’t ever go home, can’t ever go back to Beacon. You always told me that you weren’t ever going to bond with anyone.” 

“Things change! Derek respects me, he doesn’t treat me like all those horrible alpha’s in Beacon used to treat me. He kind and I love him,” the words come out in a long rush leaving Stiles without breath. 

Scott turns away from him some of his anger deflating. “What about going home one day? Don’t you want to go back to Beacon?” 

“This is my home now, there's nothing for me back in Beacon,” Stiles says and sets Scott with a firm but defiant look. 

“What about your father?” Scotts tone is no longer filled with anger, instead it's quiet and soft to Stiles ears. 

Stiles feels pain just at the sheer mention of his father. It's the same kind of pain that he feels when he thinks about his mother. That pang of loneliness deep within him that echoes throughout his body. It leaves him feeling just a little bit hollow inside. “I pray that my father's still alive, but I find it hard to believe that he is.” 

“I guess I just never pictured you being some alpha’s omega,” Scott responds. 

This makes Stiles more mad than any of the disapproval that Scott had shown towards Derek. It's the fact that Scott seems to think just because he’s bonded he’s not his own person anymore. Like Stiles would actually be okay with some alpha owning him. “I’m not some  _ alpha’s omega _ I’m still my own person. I choose to get bonded.” 

Stiles scolding words are enough to make Scott looks ashamed. He gives Scott his most unimpressed look, really hoping that Scott will stop with all of this nonsense. Scott gives him the familiar self deprecating smile that Stiles has seen on his face many times, usually when Mrs. McCall would scold him for causing some sort of trouble. 

“I’m sorry,” Scott mumbles and Stiles actually feels just a little bit bad for how ashamed Scott looks, only a little bit though. “I’m happy you found someone, really I am. Everything's just so different now.” 

“Things are different now,” Stiles replies giving Scott a little smile in return which seems to help alleviate some of the sad embarrassed look on Scotts face. “That doesn’t mean that you’ve stopped being my brother.” 

“Your my brother too, and I’ve missed you,” Scott says giving him a wide dopey grin. 

Stiles can’t help but get out of his chair and walk over to Scott so he can give him a tight hug. Stiles is surprised that he feels a little bit like crying and he hadn’t realised how much the tension between them had been stressing Stiles out. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted from his chest. 

Stiles goes back to sit in his down in his chair. “So now are you going to tell me what's happening between you and Princess Allison?” 

“Nothing is going on,” Scott immediately says face turning bright red. “I mean I like her. She’s so wonderful and perfect and… she’s a princess though so nothing can really happen.” 

“I married a prince,” Stiles points out with a shrug. It's not actually the same thing, even if both Derek and Allison are royalty. 

If everything goes according to plan then Allison will become the sole heir to the throne, guaranteed to become queen after her father's death. Derek on the other hand will never sit on the throne. His sister already sits on the throne and her children will follow her. Derek has two siblings that could take the throne instead of him if needed, especially considering Derek has made it clear that he never wants to be king. 

“It's not the same, even though she’s pretty much the most perfect person that I have ever met,” Scott says with a loud dramatic sigh. “I should probably get back to her.” 

“Your not being a good bodyguard if your over here chatting with me,” Stiles teases with a grin. Scott blushes slightly, anyone with eyes can see that Scott trails after Allison like a love sick puppy. 

Scott stand up and gives Stiles another quick hug. “It feels weird being away from Allison for too long, it makes me anxious.” 

Stiles suspects that's about more than just Scott being a diligent bodyguard. He knows wolves tend to be more sensitive about protecting people they care about. Back in Beacon Scott would get all stressed out and flustered any time Stiles got hurt, which was a lot considering how clumsy he is. Scott would get that way and Stiles isn’t even someone that he is attracted to. 

“Better get back to her then,” Stiles says leading Scott out of the room. Once Scott’s gone Stiles goes and changes into his nightshirt, and heads into the bathroom to wash his face. It's still early so Stiles climbs into bed, tucking himself under the covers and grabbing the novel he was reading before Scott came in. 

His eyes are growing heavy and he can feel himself about to fall asleep with his book still open and the lights still on when Derek comes into the room. He comes over and gives Stiles a quick kiss before going over and changing into his sleep cloths. 

Derek crawls into bed beside Stiles tucking himself close against Stiles side. Stiles sets his book down on his nightstand so he can slip down into the bed as Derek wraps an arm around his waist. Stiles links his hand with Derek's where its pressed into his stomach. 

“How was your day?” Derek asks nuzzling his face into Stiles neck right near where the mating bite is. 

“Isaac’s pregnant,” Stiles says, learning that was probably the most exciting part of the day, honestly his life is relatively routine. 

“That's exciting,” Derek mumbles sounding half asleep. Stiles turns and sees that Derek's eyes are closed, and if Derek had not just spken he probably would think that he’s asleep. 

“I think- I think I might be jealous of Isaac,” Stiles whispers feeling his cheeks flush pink at the confession. 

A slow grin starts to appear on Derek’s face. He rolls Stiles onto his back, moving so he’s leaning over Stiles. “Is this your way of telling me that you have baby fever?” 

“I do not have baby fever,” Stiles snaps back at once and Derek begins laughing. “Don’t be mean.” 

“How am I being mean? It's not as though I don’t want to have kids,” Derek says pressing a kiss to Stiles cheek. 

Stiles bites his lip. “You want to have kids?” 

“Of course I do, I can’t wait to have kids with you,” Derek says wrapping Stiles close against his body. Stiles has always wanted kids but most of the time he didn’t think he’d have anyone to have kids with. Now Stiles is surprised by how excited the idea of having children with Derek makes him feel. 

“I love you,” Stiles says while pulling Derek into a heated kiss. 

Derek smiles back at him, curling his palm around Stiles cheek. “I love you too.” 

  
  


 

***

  
  


 

Stiles awakens to a furious knocking at the door. For a second Stiles thinks he’s back to the night Allison and Scott arrived and for a second he wonders if he’s in a dream. It takes him a minute to realise that he’s fully awake, Derek is getting out of bed beside him. Derek doesn’t even get to the door before it opens. 

“Someone just tried to kill the Argent princess!” its Boyd at the door, wearing his pajamas and looking fully flustered. 

Immediately Derek throws himself out of bed not even bothering to change into real cloths or put on a robe. He strides out of the room wearing his old worn out pajamas. Stiles slips out of bed, grabbing his banyan before following Derek down the hallway. It seems like everyone who staying on this floor of the manor is awake and running through the hallways. 

Princess Allison room is right down the hall, and Stiles follows Derek down there. The door is open and Stiles is horrified to see that the room is a total disaster. There's sheets on the floor, a night stand is overturned and there's a lamp on the ground. It looks like a hurricane come through through the room. 

Standing on one side of the room is Princess Allison, holding a dagger out in front of her and body tense in a defensive position. Scott is on the other side of the room, in his partly shifted form and with glowing red eyes. Clutched within his grasp, sharp nails nearly drawing blood from the throat under his hand is Ms. Blake. 

Scott turns to look at them as he and Derek enter the room. “Ms. Blake tried to murder Allison! She’s the mage that tried to poison Princess Kira during your bonding ceremony!” 

“This animal is lying!” Ms. Blake screams back struggling in Scotts grip. Honestly from this point of view Scott doesn’t look very good. Half shifted and holding a struggling women by her throat against the wall. If Stiles didn’t know how horrible Ms. Blake is he would surely think that she’s the victim. 

“Scott let go of Ms. Blake,” Derek says slowly. Scott immediately wears a hurt expression but lets go of Mr. Blake. She wears a smug expression until Derek begins to speak again. “Dr. Deaton, can you test whether or not Ms. Blake has recently used magic or is possessing magic?” 

“Yes, that's easy enough,” Dr. Deaton says stepping out from behind Stiles and walking towards Ms. Blake. He tries to take her hand but Ms. Blake curls her hands close to her body and shoots Dr. Deaton a vicious glare. 

“I don’t see why this is necessary! This man has lied!” Ms. Blake snaps, pointing a finger at Scott who has only taken a small step back from Ms. Blake. He could easily reach forward and grab her once again if he needed to. 

Dr. Deaton doesn’t show any signs that he was bothered by Ms. Blakes words. He turns back to look at Derek whose taken on an impressively authoritative stance. “Ms. Blake you will allow Dr. Deaton to test you.” 

Ms. Blake slowly allows Dr. Deaton to take her hand. Stiles can almost sense her magic from where he’s standing. Dr. Deaton turns back to look at Derek. “Ms. Blake just recently cast a spell.” 

Derek nods before turning back to look at the group of soldiers gathered by the door. Boyd is the one that Derek seems to be talking to more directly, being Derek second in command. “Go down stairs and search Ms. Blakes room, Dr. Deaton accompany them to see if you can sense anything that has magical qualities.” 

A group of about five soldiers head downstairs. Derek stays though, still hovering in the doorway. Stiles wants to say something, though he’s not sure what he would say. Derek already knows about what Ms. Blake did to Danny during his heat, when she locked him in a linen closet and wouldn’t let him out. Stiles wants to shout about how Ms. Blake terrorised them all downstairs and made then fear her so much that it made them shake. 

“Ms. Blake, did you try to poison princess Kira,” Derek asks the question with an even tone, almost as though like he’s not even interested in hearing the answer. 

“No, no, of course not,” Ms. Blake says shaking her head vehemently looking as though she’s almost on the verge of tears. Stiles wonders how she became such a wonderful actress, he’s almost convinced.  

Derek nods his expression still carefully neutral. “Thank you for telling me the truth, I’ll call off the search.” 

Stiles so shocked he almost can’t believe what he just heard. Stiles now realised he should have suspected Ms. Blake long ago of being the one who tried to poison Kira. She always hated the omega’s, and he can only imagine if she found out that one of them is a princess, and therefore more important than her would make her furious. He often suspected she locked Danny in the closest that day because she was jealous that a well off alpha was giving an omega attention over her. 

“What are you talking about? Of course she was lying! Couldn’t you hear the skip in her heartbeat?” Scott demands throwing Derek a confused look. 

“No, her heartbeat sounded normal,” Derek responds, his voice slowly becoming less even and confident. Derek shoots Stiles a nervous look, so quick that Stiles almost think that maybe he just imagined it. His expression becomes carefully schooled again, bland and non expressive. 

Stiles septs forward slowly grasping Derek’s hand. Derek turns and looks at him in surprise as Stiles slowly begins moving his hands up Derek body until it's pressed against Derek's cheeks. Stiles closes his eyes, trying to focus on the feeling of magic within his body, searching deep within him for any sign of it.

It vibrates under Stiles fingers and he can feel and hear Derek taking a shuttering gasping breath. In his mind he can picture the magic, a slowly blue light deep within Derek’s mind. It feels like he’s burnt his hand when he reaches towards it, just like that day when he burnt his hand on the pan under Ms. Blakes watchful eye. 

He’s not sure how he does it, he has no spell to assist him and not even mountain ash on his hands to help control his magic. It's like sticking a key in an old lock, it takes a bit of wiggling but he eventually it able to get the door open. The magic burns behind his eyes for a second before fading. 

“Oh gods above,” Stiles whispers feeling pulling back from Derek. “She put a curse on you.” 

Derek looks deeply in pain at those words, as though someone just stabbed him in the heart. He curls an arm acrond Stiles waist and pressing their foreheads together. “Did you get rid of it?” 

“Yes,” Stiles says quietly nodding and dislodging Derek’s head from where it's pressed against his own. Derek pulls back, still keeping Stiles tucked close to him, an arm wrapped large and solid against his waist. 

“Ms. Blake, did you murder Princess Kira?” Derek asks again setting Ms. Blake with a murderous gaze. 

“No,” Ms. Blake replies. Her tone lacks the theartrics from earlier, instead its a soft and nearly dead sounding. He expected her to only build up her theatrics at having been caught but instead she’s becomes eerily quiet. 

Derek turns slowly to the several soldiers stationed behind him. “Please arrest Ms. Blake and take her to the northern tower.” 

Its then that Ms. Blake begins to go into her theatrics. She immediately backs up from the approaching soldiers and Scott lets out a low growl as she does so. Immediately she begins to dramatically weep which would almost be sad if it wasn’t for the fact that she’s completely dry eyed, her wails are loud and high pitched though. 

“Don’t touch me!” she snaps moving out of their grip she stumbles back until she’s stuck between a desk and the wall. 

“My uncle hand picked you to work here, he interviewed you himself,” Derek says stepping forward, anger clear in his voice. He’s sure that Derek uncle would have questioned Ms. Blakes allegiances, and if had any intent of hurting members of the royal family. Cursing Derek is certainly a form of hurting him. 

“You think it was hard to pull the little trick that I did on you as well on your stupid foolish uncle,” Ms. Blake hisses clearly no longer trying to keep up any sort of appearance that she is innocent in all this. “You all are nothing but stupid dirty animals! You should be burned at the stake.” 

Two soldiers grab her by each arm, even as she tries fruitlessly to pull out of her grip. Calling werewolves animals is the worst insult she could have given them and it earned growls from multiple people in the room including Derek and Scott. The mention of burning them on the stake makes shivers run down Stiles spine. It reminds him of what the Argents are said to do with mages. 

Boyd strides into the room then, holding a bunch of blank pieces of parchment in his hands. He keeps walking towards Ms. Blake, grabbing her hand and forcing it on top of the parchment. “Dr. Deaton says that there's magic all over these letters. Her touch should be able to unlock it.” 

Slowly black ink begin to flood the page and words begin to appear. They all lean forward to watch as it happens. Ms. Blake tries to struggle and makes a useless attempt to pull her hand from Boyds grasp. 

“She’s been working with the Argents! Sending letters to them,” Boyd says flipping through the letters much faster anyone is able to read. Eventually he turns and passes the stack of letters to Derek. 

Derek looks over them, flipping through then much like how Boyd just did. “Takes Ms. Blake to the tower. And Boyd continue to search her room for anything else that could be helpful.” 

The soldiers drag Ms. Blake out of the room even though she’s kicking and screaming the whole way. She’s yelling horrible things, the kind of insults that are disgusting enough it makes them all cringe. 

“She was instructed to kill Allison,” Derek says after her shouting has faded. He holds up the letter and Boyd comes over to look at it. Allison appears at Boyds side, taking the letter in her grasp and letting out a horrified gasp. 

“That’s my grandfather's signature,” Allison says, pointed to the nearly unreadable signed name at the bottom. It doesn’t even look like a name, just lines and swirls that apparently form a word. Allison runs her fingers over her grandfather signature like she expects the letters to change under her gaze. 

“She’s a mage,” Stiles murmurs the words feel sticky in his mouth. “The Argents hate people with magic, I can’t believe they would work with her.” 

“My grandfather and aunt will work with anyone, use anyone, in order to get what they want,” Allison explains. 

At the beginning of the war Stiles had thought that both sides were bad. In his mind both of them were causing destruction so it was hard to feel that one was so much better than the other. That of course was before the manor, before the Argents took Scott and his father away and before he learned that he was a mage and that the Argents would to horrible things to him if he ever crossed their path. 

Now he comes to realise that the Argents are truly evil. So evil that even members of their own family can’t stand how terrible they are. Stiles hopes that they go and overthrow King Gerald, because Stiles knows that Allison and her father and bound to be betters rulers then him. If not better rulers, at least simply just better people. 

“He ordered her to find out if the southern princess was here and murder her,” Boyd says quietly, motioning to one of the letters. 

Stiles wonders how Ms. Blake found out that Kira was the southern princess. Perhaps she was just working on the same suspicion that Stiles had felt over whether or not Kira was the southern princess. Perhaps she was willing to murder Kira, not even knowing if she was actually the southern princess, and was fine killing the wrong person if it came to that. 

“If King Gerald wrote her to tell her to assassinate Allison then he knows that she’s here,” Scotts points out.

“He must know that I’m here asking for your help,” Allison says rubbing at her temple with a long suffering sigh. “Only a hand full of people knew that I was going here, my grandfather must have gotten it out of one of them.” 

Stiles is sure that Allison is worried about the safety of her parents. King Gerald and Kate Argent don’t seem like the kind of people who would stop at killing their own family if they found that they were a threat to their power. Considering King Gerald was more then willing to have Allison assassinated. 

“We’ll need to move up the plan, we can’t risk them attacking us here,” Boyd says seriously. 

Stiles been trying not to think about it. He’s scared of them leaving, of having Scott ripped away from him again and this time Derek to. It also feels like fate was to good to him, allowing him and Scott to meet up here. He has a hard time believing that something like that can really happen twice. Stiles just can’t believe that he’d be that lucky. 

He reaches forward and takes Derek hand in his. Derek turns to give him a small uneven smile. Its not happy smile, instead it's clearly the smile of someone trying to convince someone that everything is going to be alright. It's the kind of smile that is meant to keep someone from crying, and Stiles is starting to realise that he’s feeling little a misty eyed. 

Stiles wishes he had more faith in the fact that everything is going to turn out alright. He doesn’t though, and he grips onto Derek's hand like its a life line. 

  
  


 

***

  
  


 

Stiles sprinkle a little more mountain ash on the dirt ground, reading the spell from the book Dr. Deaton is holding in his hands. They’ve been slowly making their way around the manor, almost done making their completely circle. Everytime Dr. Deaton tells him to stop he sprinkles a little mountain ash onto the ground, and murmurs the protection spell from the book that Dr. Deaton holds. 

Its early in the morning, the sun only just beginning to rise. Its sets them in a light glow and gives them long shadows as they walk through the grass around the manor. They stay close to the wall of the manor Dr. Deaton having informed him that the bigger the area of protection the more it would drain his magic. 

The fact that it will drain his magic is why their doing it so early in the mourning, on the day that the soldiers are leaving for the Argent territory. Stiles has wanted to do it the night before but Dr. Deaton had argued against it. He said that every hour, every minute, that Stiles was feeding the protection spell the weaker he would become. Therefore there was no reason to start it earlier than necessary. 

“There, the finial one,” Dr. Deaton says as they stop one final time. Stiles sprinkles the mountain ash form the half empty jar and murmurs the words of the spell. 

Dr. Deaton had told him he'd be able to feel the spell draining his magic and he’s right. It's like a low humming under his skin, different then the presence of magic but a feeling like it. He feels a little shaky on his feet, and even a little bit light headed. It makes him want to go and take a long nap. 

“How long can the spell last?” Stiles asks as they head back in through the kitchen door. Usually at this time the manor would only just beginning to wake up but today it different. The manor is bustling with activity, breakfast has already been served and everything. 

Dr. Deaton makes noise of non commital. “It will depends on how powerful your magic really is. It could last a month or if your magic strong enough you could keep this going for years if you needed to.” 

“Derek said the operation is only supposed to take a couple of months,” Stiles replies. Derek had also told him that he wasn’t entirely sure how long it would take, but Stiles decided not to mention or think about that. 

“These things can never really be predicted,” Dr. Deaton says and Stiles nods in agreement. 

Stiles heads to the courtyard with Dr. Deaton. It's where everyone has gathered in the crisp spring morning air that makes their breaths come out in little steam puffs in front of them. Stiles is wearing his thickest coat, and the scarf that he made. Stiles is contemplating stealing a pair of gloves that he knows Derek has in the back of their dresser. With Derek gone he won’t know the difference. 

Usually the courtyard is used for training exercises. Typically used for combat and sword play exercises. The shooting range is placed further away from the manor, so they don’t have to worry about anyone getting shot by mistake. 

During training there's usually two dozen people but now it's crowded with both people and horses. Most of the soldiers look to be just milling around, gathered in groups of three of four and talking. It's clear that their waiting for the signal that they should head out. 

Stiles weaves his way through the courtyard, trying to find Derek amongst the crowd. He spots Scott and Allison standing slightly off the the side talking with Boyd. Stiles heads over to them, seeing the Erica is also there tucked under Boyd’s arm which is wrapped around her shoulders. She’s molded herself into his side, and it looks like they’d have to be pried apart for him to go anywhere. 

“Stiles!” Scott reaches forward and pulls him into a tight hug. “I’m going to miss you.” 

“I’m going to miss you too,” Stiles replies with a little laugh. This feels a little bit like a dream, and he doesn’t think it's really going to set in until their all gone. 

“Once this is all done I’ll write to you okay, like every single day. Your going to be sick of me,” Scott's says with a dopey grin. “And Allison says that she’ll help me find out what happened to your dad.” 

Stiles finds he can’t help but reach forward and pull Scott into another hug. “Thank you, and I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of hearing from you.” 

“I think Derek’s looking for you,” Boyd points out braking up Scott and Stiles little love fest. Stiles doesn’t want to say goodbye to Scott but he also doesn’t want for Derek to leave without saying goodbye to him first. 

Stiles weaves his way back into the crowd, looking around anxiously until he eventually spots Derek. He’s standing over near Jackson and Isaac, two horses beside them. Derek hadn’t wanted to send Jackson because Isaac of pregnancy. Jackson is by far the best sniper at the manor, what was apparently crucial for the mission. Stiles knows Derek's going to do anything to makes sure Jackson gets back alive, and keep him out of danger. 

It's not till Stiles gets up close does he realise Isaac is crying. It's a depressing sight, because Isaac is so sweet and the way he’s clutching Jackson close like he’s one step away from completely falling apart. Jackson is cooing at him, looking on the verge of tears himself which makes Stiles heart ache even more.

Stiles comes up to Derek, throwing his arms around Derek's shoulders. Derek pulls him in close so his nose is pressed up against Derek's neck. Stiles doesn’t want to let go, hates the feeling of Derek's arms starting to loosen around him. Stiles has decided that he’s not going to cry no matter how much he really truly wants to. 

“I don’t want you to go,” Stiles mumbles from where his face is still pressed against Derek’s body. He’s gripping the back of Derek’s cloths, fisting the fabric in his hands until his knuckles turn white. 

“I know,” Derek mumbles pressing a quick kiss to Stiles hairline. “I’ll see you soon. I’ll be back before you can even miss me.” 

“I already miss you,” Stiles admits because in a strange way he already does. It's like there's an empty spot in his chest, that's only going to grow and grow the longer he’s away from Derek. He presses his eyes against Derek's collarbone, trying to hold the tears in. 

Derek runs a few soothing circles along Stiles back before slowly pulling away. Stiles lets go of him reluctantly, wishing he could refuse to let go. Derek pulls him into a heated kiss, a long and wet kiss. He leans their foreheads together. “I have to go now.” 

“Okay. Love you,” Stiles says this with a sad sigh pressing a quick kiss to Derek lips as he pulls away. 

Derek pulls away and pulls himself up onto his horse. Stiles reaches up and gives Derek’s hand a final squeeze, trying to muster up a believable smile. Beside Derek Jackson gets up on his own horse, pulling away from Isaac who looks like he might start crying even harder. Stiles reaches forward and wraps an arm around Isaacs shoulders. Isaac rests his head against Stiles shoulder, wiping away tears from his eyes. 

“Lets move out!” Boyd calls from his place in the crowd, getting up onto his horse. The rest of the soldiers follow suit, getting up on their own horses. From there the courtyard begins to clear out, soldiers on horseback heading out in pairs. 

Jackson and Derek are near the back of the crowd. Isaac starts sniffling as they watch Derek and Jackson head out of the courtyard. He wipes his nose with the back of his hand, before pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket to blow his nose. 

Not all the soldiers have left the manor, there's still about two dozen staying here. Derek hadn’t wanted to leave the manor undefended, especially now that they know Gerard Argent knows Allison was here. It seemed likely that the Argent army would attack in an attempt to get Allison, not knowing that she’s already left. 

Ethan is one of the soldiers staying behind. Stiles knows that Danny feels guilty that Ethan gets to stay while the rest of their alpha’s don’t. He knows he feels particularly bad about Jackson leaving, and Ethan even suggested he leave instead of Jackson. Unfortunately Ethan's skill with a gun are extremely limited, most born wolves don’t have much skills with guns. 

The courtyard is nearly empty, only a few soldiers and other people milling around. Erica comes over and wraps her arm around Isaacs other side, bracing Issac up between them like two pillars. She gives Isaac some soothing pats on the back. “How are you feeling?” 

“Horrible,” Isaac mumbles out rubbing his hand over his nose again. “I already miss him. It feels terrible.” 

“Derek and Boyd are going to look after him. Make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble,” Erica tries to reassure, offering up a small smile. 

“The pregnancy is just making me feel so … so,” Isaac says ending with an annoyed sound. A pregnant omega craves their alpha more than normal, as their instincts gets more intense. It's instinctual for a pregnant omega to want their alpha to protect and provide for them while an alpha wants to do anything to keep their omega safe and happy. No doctor would recommend an alpha separates from their pregnant omega for any lengthy period of time. 

Stiles own instincts are going slightly crazy being separated from Derek, he can’t even imagine what it feels like to Isaac. “It’ll be alright. Jackson will be back soon enough and back to his usual annoying and obnoxious self.” 

Those words make Isaac crack a small smile, tears no longer running down his face. His cheeks are a little red from his crying. “I think I’ll go crazy if he doesn’t come back.” 

While his words are dramatic there's unfortunately a little bit of truth behind them. They’ve all heard the stories about omega’s who couldn’t handle the death of their alpha. Went mad until they just seem to fade away completely, becoming nothing more than a hollow frame of something that used to be a person. 

“He’ll come back,” Erica reassures. 

One of the few people left in the courtyard is Kira, four soldiers one of those who is Malia. He’s not entirely sure how it was decided that Kira should leave the same day as the rest of the soldiers, but Stiles suspects that it has something to do with the fact that Derek didn’t want to leave Kira in a place that is basically undefended. Delaying her going home is certainly not going to help bring a close to the war. 

Unlike they soldiers they don’t wear any Hale symbols. Instead their dressed like traders, wearing several layers as though prepared for any weather and a bag of fake wears on their back. The soldiers still hold themselves like soldiers but there's nothing that can be done about that. He only hopes nobody can tell their wolves. 

It's a lot of goodbyes for one day. Stiles is not sure if that makes it easier or harder. The horses are already saddled and ready to go, nearly all the horses are being used for traveling into Argent territory but Derek had insisted that Kira and her four escorts should be given horses as well. The goal was to get Kira back to the south, and returned to her parents, in any way that they could and as quickly as possible. 

Stiles, Isaac, Erica and Danny are all gathered in the courtyard, waiting to see Kira off. She finishes attaching a pack to her horse, strapping it onto the end of the saddle. There's only a few things in her pack, some fresh cloths, a thicker jacket and an extra pair of shoes. She only came with the cloths on her back, so she doesn’t have anything to take back home with her. 

“Well, I suppose this is it,” Kira says giving them a sheepish and small smile. 

The four of them move forward towards Kira, not unlike a swarm of bees. Their limbs overlap as they pull her into a tight hug, surrounding her entire body. Kira is laughing, Stiles can feel the vibration of her laugh against his body. Her happiness is contagious, and Stiles finds himself feeling much better than he thought he could possibly feel today. 

“You have to promise that you’ll write,” Danny says as they all begin to pull back. 

Kira nods giving them a wide smile. “Of course I will! As soon as I get home I'll send you all letters. And you have to promise that you’ll write back.” 

They all nod, agreeing that they’ll write to her. Isaac leans forward and presses a quick kiss to Kira’s cheek. “We are all going to miss you.” 

“You’ll have to come and visit one day, you can stay in the palace,” Kira suggests giving them a wide smile. Stiles wonders what the palace would be like. Kira talked about it a little bit, about the vast gardens and the large arches in the doorways that allow air to move through the house easily. She had explained that the architecture is much different than that of the manor, which is built to last through a winter. It hardly gets cold in the south even in the winter and it nevers snows, so allowing natural air to move through the palace is important. 

Malia walks up to where their standing, Stiles was so caught up in the goodbyes that he hasn’t even noticed that the three soldiers have already gotten onto their horses. Malia looks slightly annoyed, and wears a little frown on her face. “We need to get going.” 

“Okay,” Kira says with a nod of her head. She gives them each a hug, a tight squeeze as she moves from person to person. 

“Have a safe journey,” Stiles says as she gives him a hug, the last one before she goes over to her horse. They watch her get onto the horse, fluid motions that show years of practice horseback riding. She gives them a quick wave as her and the four soldiers head out of the courtyard. 

The courtyard is quiet, once Kira is gone and her figure fades along the dirt path heading south. She becomes nothing more than a silhouette before eventually fading into the treeline. They all silently watch her go before heading inside. 

The manor feels quite to, with so many soldiers gone. The few that are still at the manor are outside training, trying to keep up the appearance of being a well trained army. Stiles and the other three omega’s sit around the table, Kira’s normal seat left empty and a constant reminder that she’s now gone. 

Stiles not looking forward to going to bed. He’s used to the feeling of someone sleeping beside him, a warm body pressed along his. Stiles is used to Derek’s heavy breathing as he sleeps, the slow rhythmic sounds which is always perfect for getting Stiles to fall asleep when his mind seems to be working to fast. 

Stiles suspects the rest feel like him. That's why they sit around the kitchen table, even though they don’t have any work to do, and sit silently staring down at the table in front of them. Stiles can feel the protection spell under his skin, a gentle ticking in his body. 

“Now what?” Erica asks scratching her nails against the wooden table. 

“I feel like an idiot,” Stiles says leaning his forehead down against the cool table. “Love sick over some silly alpha. I feel like I’m in some romance novel, a damsel falling apart after their alpha goes off to war.” 

Isaac lets out a little laugh. “It's not just some silly alpha, its your bonded. Also I like those romance novels.” 

Stiles likes those romance novels too, not that he’s actually admit it. There the kind of novel that he hides under more sophisticated ones about history and science. Just because those novels make him feel all hot and bothered doesn’t mean he actually wants to be one of the omega’s in those novels, who falls all over themselves just to get the attention of an alpha. He would much prefer his mother's stories, where omega’s get to go on exciting adventures and always end up saving themselves. 

“Maybe we can go work on the garden?” Danny suggests, he knows Danny doesn’t actually have much interest in gardening, he grew up in a large home where they paid people to do the gardening. He probably just recognizes that they’re all in need of a distraction. 

“Thats sounds nice,” Stiles says, giving Danny a small smile. 

They head outside, collecting their shovels and the seeds which just recently came in. Stiles and Isaac have already done a bit of planting on their own, but its slow work especially not that's it beginning to actually get hot outside. The cool morning air is perfect for planting. 

Stiles knows this is mostly just a distraction, to keep their minds off all the horrible things that could be happening. Just because it's meant to be a distraction, doesn’t mean that it’s not enjoyable way to spend his time. 

The garden is nothing but dirt with seeds in the ground, but Stiles thinks with a little bit of magic is will easily become something more. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow only one more chapter to go. this was a little bit different then the previous chapters because it was more broken up but i'm also pretty sure this is the longest chapter in the entire fic so i hope you enjoyed! thank you to everyone who left comments and kudos!! the last chapter will be just a little bit shorter with a little epilogue at the end!


	8. Chapter 8

“I wish they would move faster so I can actually get a good look at them,” Erica says, from where she’s holding the hand held set of binoculars. She’s been peering out the window for a half an hour, her eyes better than Danny or Stiles own because of her werewolf vision. They hover behind Erica like two long shadows, hanging onto her every word.

They’ve been standing at the window since they first heard that a group had been spotted riding towards the castle. Ethan had pointed out that the group probably wasn’t hostile, and probably not Argents. While the Argents are often brash and reckless, attacking a manor on a hill in the middle of the day, riding up the main road in plain sight, is completely idiotic. If they had half a brain they would only attack the manor at night, going through the dense forest spread out around the manor so that they would be harder to spot. 

Putting away the idea that its a hostile attack, they’ve begun to speculate about who the group could be. For the briefest of moments they hoped it could be the soldiers returning, even though it been only a month and therefor much to early for them to be coming back. The group also looked to small, unless something had gone terribly wrong during their mission. 

Next they had thought maybe traders, though the road up to the manor doesn't lead to any major cities that they could be trying to reach. Traders don’t usually come to just a manor to sell their goods, it's simply a waste of their time because it means they would only have a small audience be able to see their products. 

“Holy Luna! They have the Hale flag on their banor,” Erica turns around giving them an excited smile before turning back to look out the window with the binoculars. “They’re sporting a white flag too!” 

They all know the Hale flag well, the blue background with the symbol of a howling wolf head. They also know that a white flag means someone is coming in peace. Together they mean that the group heading towards them is a group of unfamiliar Hale army soldiers, possibly looking for safely within the manor walls. 

“Should we...should we go out and greet them? Stiles asks not quite sure what the protocol is for this kind of thing. 

They all turn to look at Ethan who looks slightly stunned under their expectant gazes. Ethan is the highest ranking soldier at the manor, but unfortunately he doesn't have the same leadership qualities that Derek or Boyd have. He’s used to making the difficult decisions behind the scenes, not in front of a waiting audience. 

“I guess we probably should,” Ethan says slowly as they head out from where they’ve been camped out staring out of a third floor window. 

There's even more soldiers gone then just the one who left with Derek. A large group of them left for a supply run one day ago, and aren't expected to be back for another two. Its left them horribly undefended if someone were to attack. 

Stiles had redone the protection spell, even though using all that magic makes him slightly sick to his stomach. Dr. Deaton said he would only be able to keep it up for three days, until those soldiers on the supply run got back. Stiles is praying that they don’t take longer than necessary because he knows there is no way to keep up this kind of magic use for very long. 

They head downstairs, watching Ethan collect the little over a dozen soldiers which still remain at the manor. They head outside, into the courtyard which the main road leads up to. Erica is still using her binoculars, checking over the group which is rapidly approaching them. 

Isaac comes up to stands beside them. The evidence of his pregnancy is clear now, the way his stomach curves out ever so slightly. He’s sick in the mornings and terribly tense nearly all the time. When Isaac can’t sleep at night he’ll join Stiles in his bed, where they’ll talk until one of them falls asleep. While Stiles won’t admit it, he also sleeps better when there's someone else's breath beside his, lullying him to sleep. 

“Whats going on?” Issac asks, rubbing dirt off his hands. He’s been in the garden all day, tending to their sprouting plants. Stiles knows about omega’s nesting during their pregnancy, and he thinks the garden might have something to do with that. 

“There's Hale soldiers heading our way,” Erica says and for a minute Isaac wears a blinding smile before Erica amends. “Not ours. They’re strangers.” 

Isaacs smile falls and he leans his head against Danny’s shoulder with a sad sigh. Stiles had his own hole in his heart and sometimes he feels his bondmark throb with longing. He suspects that all the magic he’s using isn’t the only thing that’s leaving him feeling just a little bit sick. 

“Stay behind the protection line,” Ethan calls out, stepping in front of them. The protection spell encomapsses the whole courtyard. Ethan and the other soldiers step closer to the protection spell border while Stiles and the other omega’s hang back near the wall of the manor. 

As the group of soldiers approaches is clear that there's about fifty of them, maybe a little more. Raised high above them is a pole which contains both the Hale flag and a white flag just like Erica had said. Everyone in the group is on horseback, looking like an intimidating swarm as they get closer. 

The protection spell that Dr. Deaton had him do only keeps out people with ill intent towards those in the manor. It's more complicated than just a normal protection spell which would just keep everyone else. This one is designed so if needed, people living with the manor can go in and out of the border with ease. Dr. Deaton said it could be important in case of an attack, when some of their own soldiers might need to be able to retreat past the line of the protection spell. 

The first few approaching soldiers pass through the border. Not all the soldiers will be able to fit in the courtyard at once while on horseback. The first few soldiers who enter seem to part ways, as two figures on horseback take the center of the crowd. Their armor seems fancier than the rest of the soldiers, the women's armor is silver and shiny while the mans is covered with the image of a blue howling wolf. 

The woman takes off her helmet, which had partially obscured her face. Long dark hair cascaded down her back, two small braids which starts around the front of her head work to keep her hair out of her face. Stiles would recognize those green and brown eyes anywhere, and the heavy set of her brow. 

Ethan bows, and the rest of the soldiers follow suit. Stiles shares a look with the other omega’s, but they bow as well. Stiles doesn’t need to hear anyone say it, he knows that this women in front of him is a Hale. Instantly she reminds him of Derek in so many little ways. 

“Your Highness, welcome,” Ethan says coming up to who they know all know is Queen Laura. She’s not really what Stiles expected a queen to look like, even though he knew that she was young seeing someone who is less than a decade older than him is a shock. 

Ethan offers up his hand to help queen Laura off her horse, though she accepts his helping hand she moves elegantly enough that he suspects that she wouldn’t even need it. She’s a relatively tall women and she walks with the kind of confidence Stiles would expect from a queen. She gives Ethan a warm smile. “It's good to see you again Lord Ethan.” 

“If you don’t mind me asking your Highness, but what are you doing here?” Ethans asks. Other soldiers start getting off their horses, stretching out what must be sore mussels from a long day of traveling. 

“I’ve come to support my brother in any way possible in order to bring an end to this war,” she states very diplomatically. “Now where is Stiles Hale.” 

He’s never heard someone call him  _ Stiles Hale _ before and the name sends a chill up his spine. He smiles at hearing it, not that he ever disliked being Stiles Stilinski. He thinks it probably has more to do with the fact that he’s been missing Derek somewhat desperately, and being called a Hale makes him feel more connected to him. 

He steps forward, not wanting to go against the queen. He blushes bright red as all eyes are drawn towards him and he clears his throat. “My name is Stiles Hale ma'am - I mean your Highness.” 

She grins at him, apparently not annoyed by Stiles slip up though he’s blushing so hard his face feel like it's on fire. Her smile is wide and unassuming, and not at all like the small little smiles he is so used to getting from Derek 

“It's nice to meet you Stiles, Derek has told me a lot about you,” she says. “Now as Lord of the manor, do you allow me into your home?” 

Stiles knows this is a werewolf thing, to be request to be welcomed into the home. It's a sign of respect and one that he doesn’t think is really necessary for a queen to ask for. Stiles gives her a nervous smile. “Of course your welcome into the manor. Ethan is the highest ranking person at the manor rightnow, you should really be asking him.” 

“Your my brothers husband, who is Lord of this manor. That makes you Lord of this manor as well,” Laura says giving him a wide smile. “Your my brother now after all, and a Prince too.” 

Stiles never thinks of himself as a prince, mostly because he doesn't even think about Derek as a prince. He’s just a boy from Beacon, not anything special and certainly not royalty. He doesn't think its right to disagree with a queen, and he wants to stay on the good graces of Derek’s family if possible. “I suppose I am.” 

“This is my husband, Prince Jordan,” Laura says motioning to the man beside her. He has dark blonde hair, and stands about the same height as Laura. Unlike Laura who has the crisp smell of an alpha, Jordan has the more bland smell of beta. He expected an omega, its the more tradition pairing which is what he expected from royalty. Derek never talks much about Jordan, only mentioned him in passing. Jordan and Laura mated after the war had already started, and Derek has always said that he doesn’t know Jordan very well. 

Stiles is not entirely sure how to greet royalty. With Derek and Kira he hadn’t known they were royalty when he first met them, so he hadn’t even had to think about it. With Allison they had thought she was an enemy so it had been different then a straight forward meeting like with Laura. 

He extends his hand out for Prince Jordan to shake which he does without even so much as a questioning look. He doesn't carry himself the same way Laura does, like he was raised to be a ruler. When Siles pulls his hand away from the handshake Laura hooks their arms together. 

“Ethan do you think you can help them bring the horses to the stable?” Laura asks walking Stiles forward with her into the minor. Jordan follows behind them, along with two other soldiers who are probably there for her protection. Stiles sends a panicked look over towards were Danny, Isaac and Erica are standing who all grin back at him.  

“Of course your Highness,” Ethan says grabbing the reigns of Queen Laura’s now abandoned horse. 

Her and Stiles head inside, still arm in arm. He never expected that he would find himself arm in arm with a queen. Even after he married Derek he didn’t imagine something like this happening. Derek had told him that one day he would probably meet his sister but he honestly expected cold indifference from her. He couldn't imagine she would be pleased to meet him, Derek’s nobody husband that she probably didn’t even wanted Derek to marry. 

“Where's some place that we can go and talk?” Laura asks. “I want to get to know you better.” 

“We can head to the library,” Stiles suggests leading Queen Laura upstairs. The go up the central staircase, he thinks it's probably not right to have a queen walk up the servants staircase even though it's the faster route. “It's me and Derek's favorite place in the manor.” 

“It sounds perfect then,” Laura agrees giving him another one of her wide smiles. It’s the kind of smile that should make her look more childish but instead it makes her look kind but mature. 

The library is bright with mid afternoon sun, making the whole room look warm and inviting. Stiles thinks he still likes it best when the library is lit only by gas lamps and candles because it reminds him of all the late nights him and Derek have spent together. When it’s just the two of them, curled up together and reading. 

They take the red plush seats, Stiles sits down on the couch and Queen Laura takes the seat next to him. Jordan sits in the arm chair to Queen Laura’s right. The two soldiers stand silently in the doorway, he suspects their Queen Laura’s personal guards instead of just regular soldiers. 

“So, tell me everything about yourself,” Laura says reaching forward and giving Stiles hand a quick squeeze. 

“Well, I grew up in Beacon, it's a little town near the border. My mother died when I was young so it's just been me and my father for most of my life,” Stiles not actually sure what to say, he wishes he could have had the opportunity to come up with something in advance. Something that would make him sounds mature and smooth, like he deserves to be a prince. 

Laura gives him a soft smile. “Derek told me that your a mage.” 

“Yes ma'am I am,” Stiles replies sending a panicked look over at Jordan, and the two guards standing by the door. Jordan gives him a warm smile in return, not looking surprised in the least which makes Stiles think this probably isn’t new information to him. The two guards are wearing blank expressions. 

“Derek told me that your skills are very impressive. I’ve only ever met a few mages before, all of them northerns. Magic is much more prevalent up there,” Laura murmurs. 

“My mother was a northerner,” Stiles admits and then instantly wonders why he just told her that. It's not really the kind of information that he likes to spread, and it's not like he would have been caught in a lie if he hadn’t told her. 

Laura nods. “People often underestimate northerns, but to survive up there you need to be strong and you need community. Wolves more than anyone should appreciate that.” 

“I’d like to go to the north one day, to see where my mother grew up,” he would have liked to go with his father but that doesn't really seem like an option anymore. Maybe he’ll be able to go with Derek. 

“That sounds nice,” Laura says before her expression slowly becomes solemn. “Publicly I can’t show full approval of you and Derek’s bonding, not when your a commoner. Privately though its clear how happy you make Derek, and I’m so glad he met you.” 

Stiles had expected that, Derek had warned him of it. Honestly he thought that Laura wouldn’t have any warm feeling towards him, he expected looks of disdain and a cold shoulder at best. Stiles gives Laura a warm smile, no longer feeling so nervous. “I’m really happy that I met Derek too.” 

“Derek and I lost so much of our family,” Laura says, not having to explain the poisoning of her family that started the war cause Stiles doubts there isn’t a single person who doesn't know about it. “It's good to see our family is growing. You can't understand how happy it makes me.” 

“I’m happy to be part of your family too. Its was only me and my dad for so long, and then he got drafted by the Argents... and I’ve always wanted a big family,” Stiles blurts out. When he was little he would beg his parents for a siblings, a whole horde of brothers and sisters. 

They can’t make up for his father, just like Mrs. McCall and Scott couldn’t make up for his mother being dead. It makes him feel better though, to have people that he can call family again. Derek once told him that for a wolf there was very few things better than getting a new pack member. Stiles thinks that feeling is close to what he feels when Laura told him that their family now. 

“I’m sorry about how you got here. I was the one that asked my uncle to get people to work in our different military outposts. I didn’t expect that my uncle would hire southerns to kidnap people and force them to work for us. I’m so sorry that happened to you, I hope you can forgive me,” Laura says intensely, leaning forward and taking both of Stiles hands in hers. 

“Of course I forgive you,” Stiles says, only then realising that it's true. He came to terms with what happened to him a long time ago. While he won’t ever be happy he was forced to leave Beacon, it gave him Derek, Isaac, Erica, Kira and Danny. It allowed him to see Scott again and not be trapped by all those horrible things people in Beacon thought of him. He gives her a tight smile. “I’m not the only person you should be asking for forgiveness from.” 

Immediately he tries to take back what he said, blubbering and blushing like and idiot. He can’t believe that he just told a queen that she should apologize. Laura shushes his apologies. “Your right, I would like to apologize to the other omega’s within the manor.” 

“I’m sure they'll forgive you ma'am,” Stiles reasures, he knows they're not people who hold a grudge. 

Laura nods, clearly not hearing any lie in his voice. Stiles is surprised to see how relieved she appears to look. As a queen she has lots of difficult decisions to make, and Stiles wouldn’t expect her to dwell too long over a decision that got a few omega’s in a difficult situation. Even if one of those people eventually become her brothers husband. 

“Now we needs to talk about the prisoner, I believe her name is Ms. Blake?” Laura asks and Stiles nods in confirmation. “Once this is all over I want to bring her to the capitol. To try her for her crimes. I was hoping you and Ethan could work on a report, compiling all the information of what she’s done.” 

Stiles doesn’t know if he’s really qualified to be able to doing something like that, though it's not like they have that many options at the moment. Stiles agrees. “Of course I will, if that's what you want your Highness.” 

“You don’t have to call me  _ your Highness _ or  _ ma'am _ , your my brother now calling me Laura will do,” Laura says with a soft laugh. “Now that is all that's taken care of I have a gift for you.” 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Stiles says as Laura motiones over to one of the guards who leaves the room. They returning after a few minutes, coming back with a wooden box which they delicately pass over to Laura who hands it over to Stiles. 

He opens the box, unlatching the metal clasp. The inside of the box is covered in red velvet, sitting within that is a beautiful crown. There's a row of diamonds at the top and bottom, each of them kept him place by a silver hold. There's a row of dangling pearls in the middle, the one in the center is the largest. The diamonds sparkle in the afternoon light. 

“Is this… is this for me?” Stiles can’t believe it, that Laura is giving him something so beautiful. It reminds him a bit of a kokoshnik, only in the shape because it's far fancier than any of the kokoshnik he’s seen which consist of only beads and embroidery. 

“It was my grandfathers, he was an omega too. He was thought to be part northern on his father's side, that his omega father was a northern knyaz, or prince, who saw it in the stars that he was supposed to marry my great grandfather and rode all the way down from the north to meet him and they fell in love as soon as they saw each other. It's all just family folklore, but when Derek told me you were part northern I thought it was fitting,” Laura says. 

Stiles finds himself thinking that he can’t possibly except such a special gift. It's a family heirloom, and a beautiful piece of art. She shakes his head. “I can’t possibly take this.” 

For the first time since they’ve been in the library Jordan speaks up, setting Stiles with a sympathetic smile. “Try it on before you decide you don’t want it.” 

Stiles slowly lifts the crown out of the box, hands shaking slightly. He slowly sets the crown upon his head, releasing his hands and begging that it won't fall off. Its heavier than he expected, though it rests on his head easily. 

“You looks beautiful,” Laura says her gaze soft in a way that is hard to interpret. He thinks theres some longing mixed in it and he’s sure that its longing for her family. Not just those who have died, but for her brothers and sister some of whom she hasn’t seen in years. 

“I can’t possibly accept this,” Stiles says lifting the crown off his head and setting it back into the box. He can’t keep his eyes off it, it's easily the most beautiful thing that he has ever seen in his life. 

He tries to hand the box back to Laura but she only pushes is back towards him. Stiles realises that it would be a useless tug of war between the two of them, trying to make Laura take back the box. He’s familiar with this kind of behavior, it's something that he and Scott used to do all the time. 

“You will accept it and your going to wear it when Derek gets back,” Laura says firmly leaving no room for argument. “He’ll cry at how beautiful you look.” 

Stiles giggles at her words, trying to picture Derek crying with joy over Stiles beauty. Stiles has definitely wanted to cry at the beautiful cut of Derek jaw but he can’t imagine sotic Derek doing that. At best he expects to get one of Derek’s small little smiles. 

“I miss him,” Stiles mumbles setting the box down onto his lap, closing the latch to the box to keep the crown safe. 

“I miss him too,” Laura says with a soft smile. “But hopefully we’ll all be together very soon.” 

 

 

 

***

  
  


 

It's been a month and a half since Queen Laura arrived at the manor. That means that it's been two and a half months since Derek, Scott and the rest of the soldiers left. They’ve had no word from them, and besides the correspondence that Laura gets from other commanders they have no idea what's happening outside the world of the manor. 

About a month ago they did receive a letter from Kira, telling them that she had arrived safely back home. Laura had also received a letter from the southern royal family, from Queen Noshiko, thanking the Hales profusely for returning their daughter and formally stating that they would not be joining the war unless specifically asked to do so by the Hales. 

Stiles had wished that Derek could have been there to see the letter, to know that everything was beginning to come to an end. Stiles doesn't know what's happening up in Argent territory, if everything is going alright, but he still wishes Derek was here to see that at least no matter what something good is going on. 

Arriving with Laura a month and a half ago had been on of the biggest surprises of his life. Lydia Martin was accompanying Laura has her lady maid, and also wither her husband Aiden who serves under Queen Laura. 

Lydia wasn’t actually acting as a normal lady in waiting, for Laura didn’t need much help getting into fancy cloths or doing her hair in intricate hairstyles. Instead Lydia acted as an advisor and confidant, and even a guard if need to be. She was meant to be the last line of defense between the queen and an enemy. Stiles wasn’t surprised one bit that Lydia had made her way up from a wealthy lady from Beacon to confidant of the queen. 

Stiles was shocked when he learned that Lydia’s husband Aiden was Ethan's brother. It was clear they were twins simply by looking at them. Apparently Aiden was often who the soldiers sent letters to in order to keep Queen Laura informed about what's happening in the manor, because if their letter were intercepted secrets wouldn’t be released. Ethan and Aiden would hide critical strategic information in childhood anecdotes that read like simple letters between brothers. 

A month and half after Laura arrives the tension was beginning to increase, everyone getting increasingly worried about what's happening up in Argent territory. Laura wanted to return back to the capital, relieve her uncle who was serving as regent in her absence as she served on the front lines. She hadn’t planned on being here more than a few weeks and now it was looking like she’d at least be here for two months. 

Stiles is out in the garden with Isaac, Erica and Danny. He’s been using a little bit of magic to help the garden along, not to much because his magic reserve is already being used up by the protection spell. Stiles wants Derek to return because he misses him but also so he can relieve the weight that accompanies keeping the protection spell running. 

Spells like the ones he uses on garden are relatively easy ones. Nature spells, like growth spells, tend to be easier then more unnatural spells such as protection spells. Magic is a natural thing, which means spells that just simply alter something natural are easier than creating something out of thin air like in the protection spell. 

Stiles is leaning down next to the sun flower plants, whispering a growing and strengthening spell into the very roots of the plants. He rubs his fingers into the soft soil, digging in his fingers until he can feel roots. The magic trickles down through his fingers, feeling like sunlight is moving through his body. 

“So, this is where you all disappear to during the day,” Lydia is standing near the edge of their garden, arms folded over her chest. 

Her hair is pulled back, leaving to long strands framing her face. The rest of it falls down her back in soft waves, shining a golden red in the sunlight. She’s wearing a light blue dress, in the lighter fabric used for summer gowns. She brought more cloths with her then Laura did, a trunk full of clothes appropriate for every situation. 

Laura doesn’t seem to have much interest in clothes, fashion or jewelry. Like male omega’s it is in fashion for them to wear both pants and dresses. Laura seems to prefer pants, claiming that their easier to ride in and offer her more mobility. She wears pants that pull tight around her waist but flow around her legs so they almost look like a skirt when she stands. She wears collared shirts, not at all unlike the ones that Derek wears. She usually keeps her hair either down or a simple braid and the only piece of jewelry she wears is a simple golden bracelet with the triskele symbol on it. 

“It's our garden, Issac is the one who got the idea and we all work to take care of it,” Danny explains, standing up from where he was crouching by a bed of lavender. Danny seems delighted to have his childhood friend Lydia back with him, especially now that they have become family through their marriages. 

“I can’t believe your playing in the dirt,” Lydia says condensation in her voice and a raised eyebrow. “Back home a chaperoned walk through your gardens with whatever newest alpha had caught your eye was the closest you would get to nature.” 

Danny laughs, clearly not bothered by the tone of her voice. Stiles shares a look with Isaac through the sunflowers, who rolls his eyes at Lydia’s comment. There is some tension between Lydia and Isaac, for once it was thought that Lydia would be Jackson’s bonded. 

In Lydia’s direction Danny shrugs at her words. “Things change I guess. Now I enjoy gardening.” 

Lydia makes a low humming noise of consideration. She steps into their garden, lifting her skirts just enough so that her dress won’t be dragged in the dirt. Her movements are elegant and sophisticated as she makes her way through the different plant beds. Stiles is surprised when she comes and stands over him. 

Back in Beacon Lydia would have never stooped low enough to speak with him. He was a strange little omega, poor and a witch. Lydia was a beta, from a wealthy family who would marry up and become part of an even more wealthy family. 

“Laura told me that you can do magic,” Lydia says, voice sounding vaguely indifferent in a very practiced way. 

“Yes,” Stiles replies, deciding there is no point in lying if Laura has already told her that he is. He wonders if Lydia wants to bully him over it. It’s been a long time now since Stiles has been bullied for him magic. 

Back in Beacon Lydia was never one of the people who bullied him, to her he was completely invisible. Back when he lusted after her he used to wish she’d say something to him, even if the words were harsh ones rather then sweet ones. He simply yearned to be recognized by her. 

“I was wondering if you would be able to fix this?” Lydia asks, fishing something out of a near invisible pocket in her dress. 

It's a necklace, pearls with a gold chains. There's too connected chains, one slightly longer than the other so they create two interlocking circles. The pearls are spaced out evenly, with delicate gold chains between where each pearl lays. One of the chains near the front of the necklace had been broken. 

“I believe so,” Stiles says taking the necklace from her. It's more delicate than the other things he’s fixed, mostly holes in clothes or sheets. The principle of it should be the same. 

He fishes a little bit of mountain ash from the jar sitting open beside him. He doesn't really need it for gardening, those spells are easy enough. It will help with his precision for the necklace, even if Lydia frowns at him surly unhappy because to her it looks like he is simply getting her necklace all dirty. 

Stiles always loves watching the things meld themself back together, and the gold chain is no exception. It almost seems to become liquid for a second, as the chains slowly reconnect. He runs his fingers over the reconnected chains, feeling the delicate and fragile metal under his fingertips. 

Stiles holds the necklace back up towards Lydia. “Here you go.” 

She takes it from his hand and inspects it carefully. He finds himself searching for her approval, wanting her to tell him that he did a good job. Unfortunately Lydia is not one who gives out compliments easily, she really makes people work for them. 

“Who would have thought that you would end up a prince,” Lydia says, her tone lies somewhere between cruel and teasing. Stiles not sure which one leaves him feeling more horrified. 

Stiles lets out a little self deprecating laugh. “I certainly didn’t. It's not as though I ever saw myself getting bonded.” 

“Even when you were in love with me?” Lydia asks a small smirk on her lips. 

Not long ago Lydia telling him that she knew about his feeling would have made him flush bright red and probably want to faint. Now though it makes him laugh. “I was never in love with you, lusted after you sure but never in love.” 

A genuine small smile appears on Lydia’s face. For the first time she gives him a look like she actually sees him as an equal, instead of an inferior more equal to dirt. She turns away from him, seeming to realise she giving him to much of her time and casts her gaze on Isaac instead. 

Stiles is surprised by the defiant set of Isaacs shoulders and lips. He’s never been swayed under the beauty that is Lydia Martin, and therefore there's no need within him to gain her approval. He might actually be on of the few people Stiles has ever seen who could actually stand up to Lydia, defy one of her commands. 

“So, your the one whose having Jackson's  _ child _ ,” Lydia says. She might as well have said Jackson’s bastard, for the word child comes out of her mouth sounding just as scolding and disgusting. Stiles can’t say he’s surprised that she’s going to try to humiliate him over the fact that they haven’t bonded yet. 

“Yes, Jackson and I are having a baby together,” Isaac sets her with an impressively steely gaze. Stiles honestly didn’t think he could muster up a look like that. “We’re bonded too, in the way that wolves are.” 

Isaac reaches and pulls down the collar of his shirt to reveal a bite mark. Its lower down then Stiles own bite, which means it's always covered by a shirt. It's a little red bite where collarbone and shoulder meet. Isaac looks immensely proud, running his finger over the bite. As if the baby wasn’t enough proof of the fact that he and Jackson are together. 

Humans don’t usually get the mating bite, or give it. It's not a natural instinct, in the way that it is for wolves or a yearning as it was for Stiles. The idea of getting bitten, or what is seen as brutal biting someone, isn’t appealing without that instinct there. As a bitten wolf the instinct exists. 

“When did that happen?” Stiles asks, ignoring Lydia completely and setting Isaac with a wide grin. 

Isaac smiles biting his lip. “Right before he left. He said we didn’t have time for a bonding ceremony but he wasn’t going to leave without giving me a bite.” 

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us!” Erica says from where she appears coming to stand behind Isaac. He looks slightly chastised by her comment but he’s still grinning like fool. Isaac moves the shirt back up so his bite mark is no longer visible. 

“Jackson did always want to have his own omega,” Lydia says giving Isaac a sharp smile. He wonders how far she’ll try to go to see him get riled up, clearly she doesn’t know that Isaac is much too sweet to get angry very easily. 

Isaac makes a low humming noise in consideration. “I’m glad he got what he always wanted. I got what I wanted too.” 

Lydia frowns, folding her arms over her chest. Danny walks over from where he was working on the other side of the garden. He laughs at Lydia, giving an eyeroll at her displeased expression. “Stop bothering Isaac, your just mad that you can’t keep dragging Jackson along behind you.” 

Lydia’s frown slowly transforms into a small discrete smile. They turn when they spot a running figure coming towards them, around the side of the manor. Its Ethan whose holding a letter in his hand. They are all completely distracted from the conversation they were having, its already long forgotten. 

They all stand from where they’ve been kneeling by the flower bed when Ethan finally arrives at the garden. He looks a little out of breath, it’s warm enough outside that running would leave anyone just a little bit sticky with sweat. 

“We just got a letter from Boyd,” Ethan says which immediately captures all of their attention. “Gerald and Kate have been overthrown, Christopher’s coronation has taken place and he’s the new king.” 

“Does it say when their coming back?” Stiles asks. Of course he cares about Christopher becoming king and Gerald and Kate being overthrown but he doesn't care about that as much as knowing when they’re coming back. Maybe it's self centered, but he can’t make himself feel any other way. 

“Boyd says they should be back within a few days, maybe even less if they move fast. None of them are interested in staying in Argent territory longer than necessary, even with Christopher as king.” 

There's going to be lots people on both sides mad at Derek’s decision to help Allison. There's lots of people in Triskele who would be willing to keep fighting, however long it would take, in order to see the Argent empire comeplay overthrown. Others, supporters of King Gerald will never be content with Christopher knowing that he worked and asked for help from the Hales. Some people will never be happy that there was ever a war to begin with, and hate both sides equally. 

Stiles thinks Laura has a very difficult job being queen. Not only is she young but she didn’t come into power the easy way. She didn’t get to apprentice for years under the careful rule of her mother, instead she was thrust into it the crown after losing most of her family and unexpectedly at the age of twenty. The first act she ever did as queen was to formally declare war on the Argents. 

He’s certainly not jealous for the role she has to play. Stiles more than understands why Derek has no interest in being king. No decision that someone can make will ever be favorable to everyone. 

“So everything went well?” Danny asks. 

“From what Boyd wrote is seems like it,” Ethan says and Stiles feels a warm wash of relief. 

Energy is mixed in with the feeling of relief. It's like a bolt of lightning traveling through his entire body. Suddenly the plants are growing, the sunflowers in front of him shoot up and flowers bloom. The whole garden flourishes under Stiles suddenly exerbance, blooming all around them. 

“Stiles! Gods above!” Erica cries as she almost gets hit in the face by a suddenly blooming and growing sunflower. 

“Sorry,” Stiles says sheepishly. “That's never happened before. I guess I was just excited or something.” 

Erica rolls her eyes at him. “Or something.” 

It has never happened before, Stiles has never just released a bunch of energy that way. Stiles is now worried that he’ll get to excited and make a pillow explode or blow out a gas lamp or something else mildly destructive. 

“Do you know anything else?” Isaac asks Ethan, completely uninterested in Stiles sudden burst of magic. Out of all of them Isaac is the one who has had the most difficult time, the pregnancy hormones make him miss the presence of his alpha much stronger than the rest of them. It's been driving Isaac just a little bit crazy. 

“No, but the letter boy Liam is here if you want to go interrogate him,” Ethan suggests giving them a little smile. 

Liam is one of the youngest soldiers, which is why he took the role of a being the messenger. He’s young for a soldier, but looks even younger then he actually is. They often disguised him as a child when he goes on his messenger duty, and no one ever seemed to think twice about that. He was also young enough that Stiles thinks the more experience soldiers wanted to keep him out of the fray of fighting, which is why they gave him the job of messenger. He’s a sweet boy, sweet enough that Ms. Morrell would always give him an extra sugar cookie if he came down to the kitchen. 

“Send him over,” Erica calls as Ethan begin to walk away, surely to talk with Queen Laura about the return of the soldiers. “Tell him we’ll give him fresh strawberries if he comes and talks with us.” 

Liam is a beta, so the appeal of a bunch of omega’s fawning over him and giving him all their attention isn’t as appealing to him as he would be if he was an alpha. Their all also bonded, which means their no longer as appealing to alpha’s beside their own. 

Ethan heads off as they go back to their gardening. They do have fresh strawberries for Liam, magically made fresh strawberries. Liam accepts the strawberries happily when he get to the garden, taking the basket full of them that Isaac passes to him. He sits against the edge of a planted box and eats ones after another. 

“So, you have to tell us everything,” Erica says after Liam has engulfed at least a dozen strawberries and doesn’t look like he plans on stopping anytime soon. 

“Well Princess Allison snuck us into the castle through tunnels under the city in the middle of the night. All of King Christopher's allies had cleared the castle, or got people to pretend to not hear us making our way through the halls. It really wasn't all that exciting,” Liam's says shoving another strawberry into his mouth. He telling of the events certainly lacks the drama they were looking for. 

Erica gives an annoyed sigh. “What was King Gerald like? Was he furious when he learned that Allison had asked wolves to help her?” 

Liam shrugs. “I never even saw King Gerald. After we took the castle, King Christopher and Princess Allison went into a private study, locked the doors and were in there for hours and hours. When they came out Christopher was the new king.” 

They all share a look, realising that they’ll have to wait for the soldiers to get back to really understand what happened. The only person who doesn't look annoyed by Liam's lack luster description of the events is Lydia who looks completely disinterested in the entire conversation. 

“They’ll be home soon,” Isaac says with a sigh, staring down at his hands where they move through the soft dirt. It's hard to tell if he was talking to himself or not. 

Stile shares his sigh, looking out over the garden, meadow and eventually when long grass fades into forest. He can picture it easily, Derek riding through those trees. He can imagine hugging him, kissing him and falling into his arms as easy as can be. 

  
  


 

***

  
  


 

Isaac throws his hand of cards across the table as soon as Lydia’s calmly comes into the room and tells them that the soldiers have almost arrived at the manor. Lydia said it like she was delivering a particularly boring piece of news mostly because she knew the scalding look Isaac would give her would be entertaining. Seeing him run from the room was probably more than she had hoped for. 

Stiles is for a second annoyed that their game got interrupted. It was a particularly good game, he enjoys playing cards with Isaac more than anyone else. Erica always gets bored and Danny it too interested in talking to focus on the game, even though Stiles knows if he put his mind to it he’d always win. Derek always tries to diracted him in some way when they played together, which was better than Scott who always forget the rules. 

He’s particularly annoyed because now looking at Isaac cards strewed across the table he realised that he had a good chance of winning. Isaac has the ability to play card for hours and hours without growing tired or even figity, which is a skill that Stiles does not possess. 

Stiles follows Issac out of the room, maybe not as chaotically but with the same kind of uncontrollable energy. They were in the library, and Stiles follows Isaac as they make their way down the stairs, all the way down to the kitchens. It's early in the morning, dishes from breakfast just washed when they settled in for a game. 

The soldiers weren’t supposed to arrive for another day at least. Stiles follows Isaac to the kitchen door, finding himself strangely surprised with the approaching figures of soldier. He almost had not believed Lydia’s words, hadn’t believed it was truly possible. 

Erica appears next to him, cheeks flushed and still wearing her apron. Ms. Morrell made her do extra dish washing after she arrived so late to help prepare breakfast that even the eggs where already cooking. She wipes her still dripping hands on her apron before flinging the thing off of her body. It lands on the floor somewhere behind them and he thinks he hears Ms. Morrell curse them. 

“Gods they really are here,” Stiles feels like he’s in some sort of dream, a very realistic dream but a dream nonetheless. 

Isaac is the first of them who goes bounding out the door and across the field. He doesn't run as fast as he once could because of the pregnancy, which is more than evident on his body. More often now he presses his hand against the fullness of his belly as he walks around or when he sits. 

Erica follows soon after, hiking the skirt of her light summer dress up around her knees. It's a new dress, given to her by Lydia a gift though Lydia pretend to do because she didn’t want the dress anymore. Stiles knows she did it because the green dress makes Erica’s eyes glow and her skin look particularly rosie. 

Stiles sets off then, only to realise he isn't even wearing shoes having slipped them off while playing card. His feet move against the cool grass, feeling hard earth against the soles of his feet. He knows he’ll look slightly disheveled, hair a mess and pink faced from running and wearing no shoes. 

He spots Derek right away his eyes become glued to him. He looks unbelievably handsome up on a horse, if not just a little bit tired. Stiles thinks he would look unrealistically handsome if it was not for the tiredness in his posture and the bags under his eyes. A small smile, one which Stiles loves, forms when he spots Stiles coming towards him. 

Out of the corner if his eye he sees Isaac running up to Jackson, whose in the very head of the group. Jackson slips from his horse and immediately embraces Isaac. Stiles also sees Erica running up to Boyd where he’s still on horseback near the edge of the group. 

As he’s running Stiles feels the magic start to flow from his body. He lets go of the protection spell, not even having to say a spell in order for it to go away. The weight is lifted off his shoulders and he feels like he can finally breathe. 

Stiles eyes remained glued to Derek, when he slips off of his horse. He lands heavy on his feet, as Stiles comes to stop in front of him. He’s slightly out of breath, as his body sways forward towards Dereks. The smile on Derek's face is warm and Stiles grins at him, so wide it hurts. 

Derek braces his hands against Stiles cheeks, leaning forward and pressing an open mouthed kiss to Stiles lips. It quickly becomes more heated, Stiles throwing his arms up around Derek's shoulders. He’s missed Derek's body, and he pressed close up against Derek's body to make the yearning feeling go away. 

Derek pulls back and nuzzles his forehead against Stiles forehead. “I’ve missed you my wild thing.” 

“Am I your wild thing?” Stiles asks with a laugh. He curls his toes into the soft soil beneath his feet, into the grass. He plays with the edges of Derek's hair against the back of his neck, its the longest that Stiles as has ever seen it but he thinks it looks rather handsome at the length it is. 

“I’ve missed you,” Derek murmurs pressing a long kiss to Stiles forehead. Stiles curls himself against Derek’s body, moving to tuck his head against Derek's scent glands. He breathes in Derek's warm scent, feeling himself relax. 

Laura approaches then and Derek move away from Stiles to give her a tight embrace. Stiles watches as Derek gives Laura a warm smile, she pokes him in the side as they pull away and Derek lets out a grumbling laugh. “What was that for?” 

“Look at you, all grown up,” she reaches up and scratched the beard that is on Derek's cheeks. “Having a beard and bonded to a wonderful omega.” 

Derek's eyes shift over to Stiles, giving him one of his small smiles. Derek reaches forward and takes Stiles hand in his. “I did bond to a wonderful omega.” 

Stiles finds himself smiling, pulling Derek's hand into his tight grip. He looks uncontrollably happy and Stiles thinks he feeling about the same way. He wishes he could feel this way forever, a uncomplicated and pure happiness. 

“Love you,” Stiles says as he darts forward to press a quick kiss to Derek's cheek. The beard is a new feeling against his lips. Derek usually has stubble, or otherwise is cleanly shaven. Stiles thinks he might actually like the beard, though he’s baised considering he thinks Derek looks rather handsome no matter what. 

Derek takes his horses harness in one hand and continued to hold Stiles hand in the other. They begin to walk towards the manor, Laura walking on the other side of Derek. Her hair is pulled back into a braid then swishes back and forth as they walk. 

“So everything went good? Gerald and Katherine are finally done with?” Laura asks. Laura is so diplomatic, that's sometimes Stiles forgets that the Argents also murdered her family. She isn’t filled with the same sort of rage and guilt that sometimes seems to consume Derek. 

Derek seems lighter now though, and Stiles thinks the weight of having dealt with Kate and Gerald has lifted some of the guilt off his chest. There's a tightness in his body, and dark circles under his eyes yet he looks very much alive. 

“Kate and Gerald are gone. Chris says he’s going to put them on trial, he wants us to send a representative to make sure everything's up to our standards. He’s already named Allison his heir in case he dies,” Derek replies. 

“We should send Cora out there for the trial,” Laura says with a laugh that sounds just a little bit evil. “She’ll drive them completely crazy. It would be incredible.” 

Derek laughs, clearly enjoying Laura’s evil ideas. Derek clearly doesn't have completely positive feeling for King Christopher, not that Stiles expected him to. He gives Derek's hand a tight squeeze. 

“But everything is going to be okay?” Stiles asks biting his lip. He’s tired of this war, tired of feeling like their always on the edge of something bad happening. He’s ready to start a normal life with Derek. 

Derek gives him a small smile. “Everything is going to be okay.” 

“Well your not allowed to leave ever again. Or at least not for a very long time,” Stiles says with a little laugh, he didn’t really want Derek to know how hard it was for him when he was gone. 

Derek leans forward and presses a kiss against Stiles hairline. “I love you.” 

Stile laughs, moveing forward so he can tuck himself into Derek's side as they walk into the manor together. 

 

 

 

**Epilogue**

  
  


 

The garden flourish under the warm spring sun. Stiles sits under the large apple tree planted almost a year ago, its grow large and impressive with just a little nudging of Stiles magic. There's four apples trees, and even an orange tree which at the moment is still small. There's been talk of planting another one, but they haven’t actually gotten to that yet. 

Isaac is sitting beside Stiles, diligently feeding Samuel cut up pieces of strawberries. Samuel is several months away from turning two, his birthday is in the fall. He has Isaacs curls, though there light brown and he has big dark brown eyes. Stiles honesty thinks that he’s pretty much too adorable for his own good. 

Jamie is sitting in front of Stiles, sucking on his own fist like it's the most delicious dessert ever. Jamie isn’t quite one, eight months younger than Samuel. Stiles was delighted when Jamie was born with Derek's green eyes but he inherited Stiles pale skin so Stiles made several little hats to keep Jamie's face out of the sun. 

Stiles was thrilled when he learned he was pregnant with Jamie. He always wanted kids, and with the war being over Stiles didn’t think there was a better time. The pregnancy had been harder than he thought it would be, and he quickly realised how pain free Isaacs had been. The morning sickness had been the worst of it, and Stiles spent the first few months of his pregnancy throwing up constantly. 

After the war ended Stiles hadn’t been sure where they would live. Laura had decided it was best that they stayed at the manor. Laura said the happiest she ever saw Derek was at the manor, and the manor was in the area of Derek’s dukedom anyways. So the manor had become their permanent home. 

Isaac, Erica and Danny had all decided to stay in the manor too. Recently Danny’s been gone for several months, visiting Lydia and Aiden in the capitol. He and Ethan had decided to go before Danny got pregnant, when traveling would be much too difficult. 

Stiles surprisingly has been keeping in contact with Lydia. After she left the manor with Laura he had expected to never hear from her again. He didn’t think that she particularly liked him, and he also suspected that she was uncomfortable with his past feelings for her. Instead not long after she left he has received the first of what would be many letters. 

They’ve all also kept in contact with Kira. Stiles is looking forward to attending her wedding next spring. Traveling with Jamie won’t be fun, but he didn't wanted to give up a chance to see Kira. Plus at a prince of an allied country it was expected that Derek would be at her wedding. 

“I can’t wait for watermelon to come into season,” Isaac says with a sigh, giving Samuel another little cut up strawberry piece for him to chew on. “You don’t think you can do anything magic wise.” 

“You know that never turns out for the best,” at first making plants grow and blossom extra quickly had seemed like a gift with no issues. Soon they realised that many of the plants when to much magic was used wilted and died extra fast too. He and Isaac had spent a great deal of time trying to figure out the perfect balance of magic to be used. 

Isaac sighs, as Jamie crawls across the blanket towards Samuel who gives Jamie a disinterested look and goes back to eating. Jamie is completely obsessed with Samuel, and Stiles expects there will be years of Jamie following around Sam like his little shadow. 

Stiles fishes out one of the sugar cookies they brought with them, passing one over to Isaac. “At least we still have sugar cookies. I know all about your horrible sweet tooth.” 

“Your not one to talk,” Isaac grumbles back taking a huge bite from the cookie. Stiles has always had a sweet tooth, but it got really bad during his pregnancy and just never seemed to go back down. Derek was always giving him fancy chocolates from the capitol when he was pregnant with Jamie. 

After Laura left she sent cooks from the capital to work in the kitchen. She said that no brother of hers could be working in a kitchen, considering that he is a prince now after all. No longer having to work in the kitchen opened up a lot of free time for all of them, Laura having gotten enough people to replace Erica, Danny and Isaac in the kitchen as well. They suddenly had lots of time to devote to the garden, then after Jamie was born he found himself more busy than ever before. 

Raising a kid was much harder than Stiles expected. He always wanted a big family, wanted his children to have lots of children to play with. At the moment he can’t imagine having another baby, maybe once Jamie is older and no longer needing near constant attention. 

The manor feels quiet, it had always felt a little quiet since the war ended. Most of the soldiers had left once the war was over, returning home to their families. A few had stayed, enjoying the life that they had in the manor and feeling as though they had nothing to go back to. The manor had seemed strangely quiet after so many people were gone, Stiles was used to it being crowded with people. One day he imagines he’ll get used to it. 

With Danny and Erica gone the manor seemed extra quiet at the moment. Erica left a few weeks ago with Boyd to attends his sister wedding in the capitol. She wouldn’t be back for at least another week, which meant it was just Isaac and Stiles. So things felt very quiet recently. 

After the war ended Stiles had wanted to go to Beacon just to see it again, of course not long after the war ended Stiles found out he was pregnant which put all those ideas away. He had received a letter from Mrs. McCall which was some relief, she had told him that she’d gotten his letter but was unable to write back because of the Argents hold over Beacon. Still Stiles was hoping that one day he can go back and see Beacon. 

“Stiles!” Derek calls, making his way through the garden. Stiles waves, motioning for Derek to come over closer. “There's someone here who says they know you.” 

“Who?” Stiles asks sending both Isaac and Derek a confused look. He scoops Jamie up into his arms as he stands up. Jamie makes a squealing noise kicking his legs out before finally settling against Stiles chest. “Is it someone that we know?” 

“I’ve never met them before, maybe it's someone from Beacon?” Derek proposes as Stiles follows him back to around to the front of the manor. 

There's a figure waiting by a horse in the courtyard. His hair is more grey than Stiles remembers, and his expression is weathered. There's deep lines of age all of his face. 

“Dad!” Stiles calls out rushing forward and throwing himself into his dad's arms. Even with a wrinkled face and grey hair he would recognize his father anywhere. “I can’t believe it's really you!” 

“Look at you,” his dad says pulling back from the tight hug to look at Stiles. “You're all grown up, and who is this?” 

John motions down to Jamie who is still balanced in Stiles arms, staring up at his grandfather. Stiles grin widely at his dad. “This is Jaime, your grandson.” 

Stiles dad looks somewhere between crying in joy and grinning so wide it looks like his mouth might just split. He pulls Stiles into another tight hug, squishing Jaime between the two of them. Jamie reaches forward and pats Johns cheek with a slobbery grin and showing his toothless gums. His father laughs like it's the most wonderful he’s ever seen. 

“I also got married,” Stiles says biting his lip nervously and turning back to look at Derek who has been hovering in back. He motions for Derek to come forward. “This is my husband Derek.” 

Derek holds out his hand out for John to shake, which he does. Stiles looks anxiously between the two of them, expecting something terrible to happen. He’s thought a little bit about Derek and his dad meeting, mostly he imagined both of them instantly breaking into a fight and his dad possibly shooting Derek for ruining his innocence or something. Instead John sets him with a slightly threatening stare and Derek looks like he might pass out in nerves. 

“When Scott told me Stiles had married a prince I didn’t believe him, thought he was pulling some idiotic prank on me. Here now I see that my son has done very well for himself,” John says talking to Derek. “Prince or not I would still shoot you before letting you hurt my son.” 

“Dad!” Stiles hisses shooting his father an unimpressed look though he doesn’t look bothered in the least. “Derek loves me. Don’t be mean to him.” 

His father looks like he doesn’t plan on ever being nice to Derek. He shoots Derek another intimidating look, one that he expects Derek will give to people who court their children. The idea of that brings a smile to his face, Derek is often fiercely overprotective. 

Derek speaks up then. “I don’t plan on hurting him. And if anyone married well it was me.” 

Stiles smiles at Derek, hooking his arm through his dad’s to guide him into the manor. “You have to tell me everything. Was Scott the one that found you?” 

“Yes, Scott was the one who told me how to find you. I worked in a training camp during the war, once they found out I had once been a soldier they wanted me to teach a new generation of soldiers. I was trying after the war to raise enough money to get myself a horse so I could get back to Beacon,” his father explains. 

He is not surprised, Scott had told Stiles that he would try to find his father. Scott had also told him that is father would probably be at one of the training camps, and he’s not surprised that he turned out to be right. Stiles is a little surprised that he had not received a letter from Scott saying he found his dad, but communications between Triskele and Argent territory are still slow. 

“Come inside you must be starving. We can have tea and sandwiches in the library,” the library is still Stiles favorite room in the manor, and Derek recently had even more comfortable chairs and couches sent in from craftsman in the capitol. 

Stiles leads his dad through the manor, Derek trailing behind them. Stiles thinks back to when he first arrived at the manor, how wonderful and terrifying he had found it. That moment seems far away and hazy and practically as though another person lived that life. 

“How did you come to live here?” John asks as they head into the library. John takes the seat beside Stiles on the couch, and Stiles moves to balance Jamie on his lap. Derek takes a spot in the arm chair across from them. 

Stiles explains how he came to live at the manor, and what's happened since then. He spares some of the details, about how Ms. Blake had hurt him with her words or how scared he had been. He completely avoids talking about how he and Derek had heat sex before they were married, because he’s sure his father's heart would not survive it. 

He watches his dad's expression move to become angry to horrified. Stiles thinks he actually got pretty lucky, considering he stay cleared of any actual fighting which can not be said for many. That and everything turned out pretty well for him in the end. 

A beta servant comes in and delivers sandwiches and tea which Derek had sent for on their way up to the library. Stiles still finds it strange to be served, and probably is much too independent for what is expected of a prince. Derek is the same way, so at least they go well together in that way. 

“I am not surprised about the magic, your mother had her own magic though it was tied to the land in the north so she wasn’t able to use it when we were living in Beacon,” his father says after Stiles is finished talking. He takes one of the finger sandwiches, and pours himself a cup of tea from the teapot and adding more sugar then Stiles would usually approve of. 

“She gave up her magic?” Stiles asks, shocked and unable to picture what that would be like. His magic is such a huge part of him that he is not sure who or what he would be without it. 

“To be with me, to live in Beacon with me,” his father says with a sigh looking down at his cup of tea. “It's something I always regretted, that she gave that up to be with me. She always hated Beacon and they treated her horrible there.” 

“I always hated it there too,” Stiles says with a sigh. He decided a while ago that he would never go back to Beacon to live there, he’s sure that being there for more than a week would make him hate the town more than ever. 

John takes Stiles hand in his, giving it a quick pat. He looks unimaginably sad. “I know that you did. I’m so glad that your happy here.” 

Stiles thinks back to when he first got to the manor and just wanted to go back home. Now he can’t even imagine a life for himself in Beacon, and has a better home now than ever before. Now, sitting across from Derek and beside his father with Jamie balanced on his lap he doesn't think it would be possible to be more happy then he is in this moment. 

Tonight when he and Derek crawl into bed together, Stiles decided that he will sit up on Derek’s lap and onto his cock and riding him until both their limbs are like jello and he can’t form a coherent thought. 

Stiles plans for sometime in the future for their to be at least a half dozen of his and Derek's babies crawling and running through the manor. He wants to one day see Derek wear the same expression that his dad wore when he saw Jamie. 

He never imagined much of a future for himself. In Beacon he imagined a marriage of companionship not love, someone who wanted children but had no interest in the romantic side of marriage. Stiles imagined he would either get used to the daily ridicule or otherwise move to the capital to become some wealthy lord or ladies spinster maid. 

“I’ve never been so happy,” Stiles feels like he’s overflowing with emotions, like he suddenly might burst into tears. He clutches Jamie close to his chest who gurgles happily at the feeling of being so tightly held by his omega parent. It's a feeling children love most. 

Stiles feels surrounded by love, so much so that with each breath he takes he feels as though he’s breathing it in. It settles deep in his chest, making him feel wonderful, joyful and completely whole. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't believe this is finished! hope everyone enjoyed the ending, i spent a lot of time trying to figure out what would be the perfect ending to this fic and i'm pretty happy with what i ended with. i was thinking of maybe writing a few one shots is in this verse if anyone would be interested.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! this is my first fic for Teen Wolf so I'm excited to finally post this. this is already completely written and I will be posting chapters every few days as I edit each chapter. Hope you enjoyed!


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